ISE 


YX-^T^I         ^"""l  IT    °W'  T*W^ 

NOE  CLUB 

W'L-ALDEN 


UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


THE  CRUISE 
OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 


WITH     HARRY    LEADING    THE    WAY,    THEY    PASSED    THROUGH    THE    RAPID 
WITHOUT  ACCIDENT 


THE  CRUISE 
OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 


BY 

W.  L.  ALDEN 

Author  of  "A  NEW  ROBINSON  CRUSOE" 


GROSSET   &    DUNLAP 

PUBLISHERS  NEW    YORK 

By  arrangement  with  Harper  &  Brothers 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

Copyright,  1883,  by  Harper  &  Brothers 
Copyright,  1911,  by  Agnes  M.  Alden 
Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


THE  CRUISE 
OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 


2125409 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE 
CANOE  CLUB 

CHAPTER  I. 

FT  is  a  very  easy  thing  for  four  boys  to  make 
-*•  up  their  minds  to  get  four  canoes  and  to  go 
on  a  canoe  cruise,  but  it  is  not  always  so  easy  to 
carry  out  such  a  project — as  Charley  Smith, 
Tom  Schuyler,  Harry  Wilson,  and  Joe  Sharpe 
discovered. 

Canoes  cost  money;  and  though  some  canoes 
cost  more  than  others,  it  is  impossible  to  buy  a 
new  wooden  canoe  of  an  approved  model  for  less 
than  seventy-five  dollars.  Four  canoes,  at 
seventy-five  dollars  each,  would  cost  altogether 
three  hundred  dollars.  As  the  entire  amount 
of  pocket-money  in  the  possession  of  the  boys  was 


2       THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

only  seven  dollars  and  thirteen  cents,  it  was  clear 
that  they  were  not  precisely  in  a  position  to  buy 
canoes. 

There  was  Harry's  uncle,  who  had  already 
furnished  his  nephew  and  his  young  comrades 
first  with  a  row-boat,  and  then  with  a  sail-boat. 
Even  a  benevolent  uncle  deserves  some  mercy, 
and  the  boys  agreed  that  it  would  never  do  to  ask 
Uncle  John  to  spend  three  hundred  dollars  in 
canoes  for  them.  "The  most  we  can  ask  of 
him,"  said  Charley  Smith,  "is  to  let  us  sell  the 
Ghost  and  use  the  money  to  help  pay  for  canoes." 

Now,  the  Ghost,  in  which  the  boys  had  made 
a  cruise  along  the  south  shore  of  Long  Island, 
was  a  very  nice  sail-boat,  but  it  was  improbable 
that  any  one  would  be  found  who  would  be  will- 
ing to  give  more  than  two  hundred  dollars  for 
her.  There  would  still  be  a  hundred  dollars 
wanting,  and  the  prospect  of  finding  that  sum 
seemed  very  small. 

"If  we  could  only  have  stayed  on  that  water- 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB       3 

logged  brig  and  brought  her  into  port  we  should 
have  made  lots  of  money,"  said  Tom.  "The 
captain  of  the  schooner  that  towed  us  home  went 
back  with  a  steamer  and  brought  the  brig  in 
yesterday.  Suppose  we  go  and  look  at  her  once 
more?" 

While  cruising  in  the  Ghost  the  boys  had 
found  an  abandoned  brig,  which  they  had  tried 
to  sail  into  New  York  harbor,  but  they  had  been 
compelled  to  give  up  the  task,  and  to  hand  her 
over  to  the  captain  of  a  schooner  which  towed 
the  partly  disabled  Ghost  into  port.  They  all 
thought  they  would  like  to  see  the  brig  again, 
so  they  went  down  to  Burling  Slip,  where  she 
was  lying,  and  went  on  board  her. 

The  captain  of  the  schooner  met  the  boys  on 
the  dock.  He  was  in  excellent  spirits,  for  the 
brig  was  loaded  with  valuable  South  American 
timber,  and  he  was  sure  of  receiving  as  much 
as  ten  thousand  dollars  from  her  owners.  He 
very  well  that,  while  the  boys  had  no  legal 


4       THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

right  to  any  of  the  money,  they  had  worked  hard 
in  trying  to  save  the  brig,  and  had  been  the 
means  of  putting  her  in  his  way.  He  happened 
to  be  an  honest,  generous  man,  and  he  felt  very 
rich;  so  he  insisted  on  making  each  of  the  boys 
a  present. 

The  present  was  sealed  up  in  an  envelope, 
which  he  gave  to  Charley  Smith,  telling  him  not 
to  look  at  its  contents  until  after  dinner — the  boys 
having  mentioned  that  they  were  all  to  take 
dinner  together  at  Uncle  John's  house.  Charley 
put  the  envelope  rather  carelessly  in  his  pocket; 
but  when  it  was  opened  it  was  found  to  contain 
four  new  one-hundred-dollar  bills. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  the  boys  were  de* 
lighted.  They  showed  the  money  to  Uncle  John, 
who  told  them  that  they  had  fairly  earned  it,  and 
need  feel  no  hesitation  about  accepting  it.  They 
had  now  money  enough  to  buy  canoes,  and  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  a  canoe  cruise.  Mr.  Schuyler, 
Mr.  Sharpe,  and  Charley's  guardian  were  con- 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB      5 

suited,  and  at  Uncle  John's  request  gave  their 
consent  to  the  canoeing  scheme.  The  first  great 
difficulty  in  the  way  was  thus  entirely  removed. 

"I  don't  know  much  about  canoes,"  remarked 
Uncle  John,  when  the  boys  asked  his  advice  as 
to  what  kind  of  canoes  they  should  get,  "but  I 
know  the  Commodore  of  a  canoe  club.  You  had 
better  go  and  see  him,  and  follow  his  advice. 
I'll  give  you  a  letter  of  introduction  to  him." 

No  time  was  lost  in  finding  the  Commodore, 
and  Charley  Smith  explained  to  him  that^four 
young  canoeists  would  like  to  know  what  was  the 
very  best  kind  of  canoe  for  them  to  get. 

The  Commodore,  who,  in  spite  of  his  mag- 
nificent title,  wasn't  in  the  least  alarming, 
laughed,  and  said,  "That  is  a  question  that  I've 
made  up  my  mind  never  to  try  to  answer.  But 
I'll  give  you  the  names  of  four  canoeists,  each 
of  whom  uses  a  different  variety  of  canoe.  You 
go  and  see  them,  listen  to  what  they  say,  be- 
lieve it  all,  and  then  come  back  and  see  me,  and 


6       THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

we'll  come  to  a  decision."  He  then  wrote  four 
notes  of  introduction,  gave  them  to  the  boys,  and 
sent  them  away. 

The  first  canoeist  to  whom  the  boys  were  re- 
ferred received  them  with  great  kindness,  and 
told  them  that  it  was  fortunate  they  had  come 
to  him.  "The  canoe  that  you  want,"  said  he,  "is 
the  'Rice  Lake'  canoe,  and  if  you  had  gone  to 
somebody  else,  and  he  had  persuaded  you  to 
buy  'Rob  Roy'  canoes  or  'Shadows,'  you  would 
have  made  a  great  mistake.  The  'Rice  Lake' 
canoe  is  nearly  flat-bottomed,  and  so  stiff  that 
there  is  no  danger  that  you  will  capsize  her. 
She  paddles  easily,  and  sails  faster  than  any 
other  canoe.  She  is  roomy,  and  you  can  carry 
about  twice  as  much  in  her  as  you  can  carry  in 
a  'Rob  Roy.'  She  has  no  keel,  so  that  you  can 
run  rapids  easily  in  her,  and  she  is  built  in  a 
peculiar  way  that  makes  it  impossible  for  her 
to  leak.  Don't  think  for  a  moment  of  getting 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB       7 

any  other  canoe,  for  if  you  do  you  will  never 
cease  to  regret  it." 

He  was  such  a  pleasant,  frank  gentleman,  and 
was  so  evidently  earnest  in  what  he  said,  that  the 
boys  at  once  decided  to  get  'Rice  Lake'  canoes. 
They  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  make  any 
farther  inquiries;  but,  as  they  had  three  other 
notes  of  introduction  with  them,  Tom  Schuyler 
said  that  it  would  hardly  do  to  throw  them  away. 
So  they  went  to  see  the  next  canoeist,  though 
without  the  least  expectation  that  he  would  say 
anything  that  would  alter  their  decision. 

Canoeist  No.  2  was  as  polite  and  enthusiastic 
as  canoeist  No.  i.  "So  you  boys  want  to  get 
canoes,  do  you?"  said  he.  "Well,  there  is  only 
one  canoe  for  you  to  get,  and  that  is  the 
'Shadow.'  She  paddles  easily,  and  sails  faster 
than  any  other  canoe.  She's  not  a  flat-bottomed 
skiff,  like  the  'Rice  Laker,'  that  will  spill  you 
whenever  a  squall  strikes  her,  but  she  has  good 
bearings,  and  you  can't  capsize  her  unless  you 


8        THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

try  hard.  Then  she  is  decked  all  over,  and  you 
can  sleep  in  her  at  night,  and  keep  dry  even  in 
a  thunder-storm;  her  water-tight  compartments 
have  hatches  in  them,  so  that  you  can  stow  blan- 
kets and  things  in  them  that  you  want  to  keep 
dry;  and  she  has  a  keel,  so  that  when  you  run 
rapids,  and  she  strikes  on  a  rock,  she  will  strike 
on  her  keel  instead  of  her  planks.  It  isn't  worth 
while  for  you  to  look  at  any  other  canoe,  for 
there  is  no  canoe  except  the  'Shadow'  that  is 
worth  having." 

"You  don't  think  much  of  the  'Rice  Lake' 
canoe,  then?"  asked  Harry. 

"Why,  she  isn't  a  civilized  canoe  at  all,"  re- 
plied the  canoeist.  "She  is  nothing  but  a  heavy, 
wooden  copy  of  the  Indian  birch.  She  hasn't 
any  deck,  she  hasn't  any  water-tight  compart- 
ments, and  she  hasn't  any  keel.  Whatever  else 
you  do,  don't  get  a  'Rice  Laker.' ' 

The  boys  thanked  the  advocate  of  the 
"Shadow,"  and  when  they  found  themselves  in 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB       9 

the  street  again  they  wondered  which  of  the  two 
canoeists  could  be  right,  for  each  directly  con- 
tradicted the  other,  and  each  seemed  to  be  per- 
fectly sincere.  They  reconsidered  their  decision 
to  buy  "Rice  Lake"  canoes,  and  looked  forward 
with  interest  to  their  meeting  with  canoeist 
No.  3. 

That  gentleman  was  just  as  pleasant  as  the 
other  two,  but  he  did  not  agree  with  a  single 
thing  that  they  had  said.  "There  are  several 
different  models  of  canoes,"  he  remarked,  "but 
that  is  simply  because  there  are  ignorant  people 
in  the  world.  Mr.  Macgregor,  the  father  of 
canoeing,  always  uses  a  'Rob  Roy'  canoe,  and 
no  man  who  has  once  been  in  a  good  'Rob  Roy' 
will  ever  get  into  any  other  canoe.  The  'Rob 
Roy'  paddles  like  a  feather,  and  will  outsail  any 
other  canoe.  She  weighs  twenty  pounds  less 
than  those  great,  lumbering  canal-boats,  the 
'Shadow'  and  the  'Rice  Laker,'  and  it  don't  break 
your  back  to  paddle  her  or  to  carry  her  round  a 


io     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

dam.  She  is  decked  over,  but  her  deck  isn't  all 
cut  up  with  hatches.  There's  plenty  of  room  to 
sleep  in  her,  and  her  water-tight  compartments 
are  what  they  pretend  to  be — not  a  couple  of 
leaky  boxes  stuffed  full  of  blankets." 

"We  have  been  advised,"  began  Charley,  "to 
get  'Shadows'  or  'Rice'—" 

"Don't  you  do  it,"  interrupted  the  canoeist. 
"It's  lucky  for  you  that  you  came  to  see  me. 
It  is  a  perfect  shame  for  people  to  try  to  induce 
you  to  waste  your  money  on  worthless  canoes. 
Mind  you  get  'Rob  Roys,'  and  nothing  else. 
Other  canoes  don't  deserve  the  name.  They  are 
schooners,  or  scows,  or  canal-boats,  but  the  'Rob 
Roy'  is  a  genuine  canoe." 

"Now  for  the  last  canoeist  on  the  list!"  ex- 
claimed Harry  as  the  boys  left  the  office  of  canoe- 
ist No.  3.  "I  wonder  what  sort  of  a  canoe  he 
uses?" 

"Fm  glad  there  is  only  one  more  of  them  for 
us  to  see,"  said  Joe.  "The  Commodore  told  us 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     n 

to  believe  all  they  said,  and  I'm  trying  my  best 
to  do  it,  but  it's  the  hardest  job  I  ever  tried." 

The  fourth  canoeist  was,  on  the  whole,  the 
most  courteous  and  amiable  of  the  four.  He 
begged  his  young  friends  to  pay  no  attention  to 
those  who  recommended  wooden  canoes,  no  mat- 
ter what  model  they  might  be.  "Canvas,"  said 
he,  "is  the  only  thing  that  a  canoe  should  be  built 
of.  It  is  light  and  strong,  and  if  you  knock  a 
hole  in  it  you  can  mend  it  in  five  minutes.  If 
you  want  to  spend  a  great  deal  of  money  and 
own  a  yacht  that  is  too  small  to  sail  in  with  com- 
fort and  too  clumsy  to  be  paddled,  buy  a  wooden 
canoe;  but  if  you  really  want  to  cruise,  you  will, 
of  course,  get  canvas  canoes." 

"We  have  been  advised  to  get  'Rice  Lakers/ 
'Shadows,'  and  'Rob  Roys,'  "  said  Tom,  "and 
we  did  not  know  until  now  that  there  was  such  a 
thing  as  a  canvas  canoe." 

"It  is  very  sad,"  replied  the  canoeist,  "that 
people  should  take  pleasure  in  giving  such  ad- 


12      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

vice.  They  must  know  better.  However,  the 
subject  is  a  painful  one,  and  we  won't  discuss  it. 
Take  my  advice,  my  dear  boys,  and  get  canvas 
canoes.  All  the  really  good  canoeists  in  the 
country  would  say  the  same  thing  to  you." 

"We  must  try,"  said  Joe,  as  the  boys  walked 
back  to  the  Commodore's  office,  "to  believe  that 
the  'Rice  Laker,'  the  'Shadow,'  the  'Rob  Roy,' 
and  the  canvas  canoe  is  the  best  one  ever  built. 
It  seems  to  me  something  like  believing  that 
four  and  one  are  just  the  same.  Perhaps  you 
fellows  can  do  it,  but  I'm  not  strong  enough  to 
believe  as  much  as  that  all  at  one  time." 

The  Commodore  smiled  when  the  boys  en- 
tered his  office  for  the  second  time  and  said, 
"Well,  of  course  you've  found  out  what  is  the 
best  canoe,  and  know  just  what  you  want  ta 
buy?" 

"We've  seen  four  men,"  replied  Harry,  "and 
each  one  says  that  the  canoe  that  he  recommends 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     13 

Is  the  only  good  one,  and  that  all  the  others  are 
good  for  nothing." 

"I  might  have  sent  you  to  four  other  men, 
and  they  would  have  told  you  of  four  other 
canoes,  each  of  which  is  the  best  in  existence. 
But  perhaps  you  have  already  heard  enough  to 
make  up  your  minds." 

"We're  farther  from  making  up  our  minds 
than  ever,"  said  Harry.  "I  do  wish  you  would 
tell  us  what  kind  of  canoe  is  really  the  best." 

"The  truth  is,"  said  the  Commodore,  "that 
there  isn't  much  to  choose  among  the  different 
models  of  canoes ,  and  you'll  find  that  every 
canoeist  is  honestly  certain  that  he  has  the  best 
one.  Now,  I  don't  undertake  to  select  canoes 
for  you,  though  I  will  suggest  that  a  light  'Rob 
Roy'  would  probably  be  a  good  choice  for  the 
smallest  of  you  boys.  Why  don't  you  try  all 
four  of  the  canoes  that  have  just  been  recom- 
mended to  you?  Then,  if  you  cruise  together, 
you  can  perhaps  find  out  if  any  one  of  them  is 


i4     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

really  better  than  the  others.  I  will  give  you 
the  names  of  three  or  four  builders,  all  of  whom 
build  good,  strong  boats." 

This  advice  pleased  the  boys,  and  they  re- 
solved to  accept  it.  That  evening  they  all  met 
at  Harry's  home  and  decided  what  canoes  they 
would  get.  Harry  determined  to  get  a 
"Shadow,"  Tom  a  "Rice  Laker,"  Charley  a  can- 
vas canoe,  and  Joe  a  "Rob  Roy;"  and  the  next 
morning  orders  for  the  four  canoes  were  mailed 
to  the  builders  whom  the  Commodore  had 
recommended. 


CHAPTER  II. 

TT  was  some  time  before  the  canoes  were  ready, 
•*•  and  in  the  mean  time  the  young  canoeists  met 
with  a  new  difficulty.  The  canoe-builders  wrote 
to  them  wishing  to  know  how  they  would  have 
the  canoes  rigged.  It  had  never  occurred  to  the 
boys  that  there  was  more  than  one  rig  used  on 
canoes,  and  of  course  they  did  not  know  how  to 
answer  the  builders'  question.  So  they  went  to 
the  Commodore  and  told  him  their  difficulty. 

"I  might  do,"  said  he,  "just  as  I  did  when  I 
told  you  to  go  and  ask  four  different  canoeists 
which  is  the  best  canoe ;  but  I  won't  put  you  to 
that  trouble.  I  rather  like  the  Lord  Ross  lateen 
rig  better  than  any  other,  but,  as  you  are  going  to 
try  different  kinds  of  canoes,  it  would  be  a  good 
idea  for  you  to  try  different  rigs.  For  example, 

have  your  'Rob  Roy'  rigged  with  lateen-sails; 

15 


V 

1 6     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

rig  the  'Shadow'  with  a  balance-lug,  the  'Rice 
Laker'  with  a  'sharpie'  leg-of-mutton,  and  the 
canvas  canoe  with  the  standing  lug.  Each  one 
of  these  rigs  has  its  advocates,  who  will  prove 
to  you  that  it  is  better  than  any  other,  and  you 
can't  do  better  than  try  them  all.  Only  be  sure 
to  tell  the  builders  that  every  canoe  must  have 
two  masts,  and  neither  of  the  two  sails  must  be 
too  big  to  be  safely  handled." 

"How  does  it  happen  that  every  canoeist  is 
so  perfectly  certain  that  he  has  the  best  canoe 
and  the  best  rig  in  existence?"  asked  Tom. 

"That  is  one  of  the  great  merits  of  canoeing," 
replied  the  Commodore.  "It  makes  every  man 
contented,  and  develops  in  him  decision  of  char- 
acter. I've  known  a  canoeist  to  have  a  canoe  so 
leaky  that  he  spent  half  his  time  bailing  her  out, 
and  rigged  in  such  a  way  that  she  would  neither 
sail  nor  do  anything  in  a  breeze  except  capsize; 
and  yet  he  was  never  tired  of  boasting  of  the  im- 
mense superiority  of  his  canoe.  There's  a  great 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     17 

deal  of  suffering  in  canoeing,"  continued  the 
Commodore,  musingly,  "but  its  effects  on  the 
moral  character  are  priceless.  My  dear  boys, 
you  have  no  idea  how  happy  and  contented  you 
will  be  when  you  are  wet  through,  cramped  and 
blistered,  and  have  to  go  into  camp  in  a  heavy 
rain,  and  without  any  supper  except  dry 
crackers." 

While  the  boys  were  waiting  for  their  canoes 
they  read  all  the  books  on  canoeing  that  they 
could  find,  and  searched  through  a  dozen  vol- 
umes of  the  London  Field,  which  they  found  in 
Uncle  John's  library,  for  articles  and  letters  on 
canoeing.  They  thus  learned  a  good  deal,  and 
when  their  canoes  arrived  they  were  able  to  dis- 
cuss their  respective  merits  with  a  good  degree 
of  intelligence. 

The  "Rob  Roy"  and  the  "Shadow"  were  built 
with  white  cedar  planks  and  Spanish  cedar 
decks.  They  shone  with  varnish,  and  their 
nickel-plated  metal-work  was  as  bright  as  silver. 


1 8     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

They  were  decidedly  the  prettiest  of  the  four 
canoes,  and  it  would  have  been  very  difficult  to 
decide  which  was  the  prettier  of  the  two.  The 
"Rice  Laker"  was  built  without  timbers  or  a 
keel,  and  was  formed  of  two  thicknesses  of  plank- 
ing riveted  together,  the  grain  of  the  inner  plank- 
ing crossing  that  of  the  outer  planking  at  right 
angles.  She  looked  strong  and  serviceable,  and 
before  Tom  had  been  in  possession  of  her  half 
an  hour  he  was  insisting  that  she  was  much  the 
handiest  canoe  of  the  squadron,  simply  because 
she  had  no  deck.  The  outside  planks  were  of 
butternut;  but  they  were  pierced  with  so  many 
rivets  that  they  did  not  present  so  elegant  an  ap- 
pearance as  did  the  planks  of  the  "Shadow"  and 
the  /'Rob  Roy."  The  canvas  canoe  consisted  of 
a  wooden  skeleton-frame,  covered  and  decked 
with  painted  canvas.  She  was  very  much  the 
same  in  model  as  the  "Shadow;"  and  though  she 
seemed  ugly  in  comparison  with  her  varnished 
sisters,  Charley  claimed  that  he  would  get  more 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     19 

comfort  out  of  his  canoe  than  the  other  boys 
would  out  of  theirs,  for  the  reason  that  scratches 
that  would  spoil  the  beauty  of  the  varnished 
wood  could  not  seriously  injure  the  painted  can- 
vas. Thus  each  boy  was  quite  contented,  and  as- 
serted that  he  would  not  change  canoes  with 
anybody.  They  were  equally  well  contented 
with  the  way  in  which  their  canoes  were  rigged, 
and  they  no  longer  wondered  at  the  confident 
way  in  which  the  canoeists  to  whom  the  Com- 
modore had  introduced  them  spoke  of  the  merits 
of  their  respective  boats. 

Of  course  the  subject  of  names  for  the  canoes 
had  been  settled  long  before  the  canoes  arrived. 
Joe  had  named  his  "Rob  Roy"  the  Dawn; 
Harry's  canoe  was  the  Sunshine;  Tom's  the 
Twilight;  and  Charley's  the  Midnight.  The 
last  name  did  not  seem  particularly  appropriate 
for  a  canoe,  but  it  was  in  keeping  with  the  other 
names,  and,  as  the  canoe  was  painted  black,  it 


20     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

might  have  been  supposed  to  have  some  refer- 
ence to  her  color. 

The  boys  had  intended  to  join  the  American 
Canoe  Association,  but  Uncle  John  suggested 
that  they  would  do  well  to  make  a  cruise,  and  to 
become  real  canoeists,  before  asking  for  admis- 
sion to  the  association.  They  then  decided  to 
form  a  canoe  club  of  their  own,  which  they  did; 
and  Harry  was  elected  the  first  Commodore  of 
the  Columbian  Canoe  Club,  the  flag  of  which 
was  a  pointed  burgee  of  blue  silk,  with  a  white 
paddle  worked  upon  it.  Each  canoe  carried  its 
private  signal  in  addition  to  the  club  flag,  and 
bore  its  name  in  gilt  letters  on  a  blue  ground 
on  each  bow. 

Where  to  cruise  was  a  question  which  was 
decided  and  reconsidered  half  a  dozen  times. 
From  the  books  which  they  had  read  the  boys 
had  learned  that  there  is,  if  anything,  more  fun 
in  cruising  on  a  narrow  stream  than  in  sailing 
on  broad  rivers;  that  running  rapids  is  a  de- 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    21 

lightful  sport,  and  that  streams  should  always 
be  descended  instead  of  ascended  in  a  canoe. 
They,  therefore,  wanted  to  discover  a  narrow 
stream  with  safe  and  easy  rapids,  and  also  to 
cruise  on  some  lake  or  wide  river  where  they 
could  test  the  canoes  under  sail  and  under  pad- 
dle in  rough  water.  They  learned  more  of  the 
geography  of  the  Eastern  States  and  of  Canada, 
in  searching  the  map  for  a  good  cruising  route, 
than  they  had  ever  learned  at  school;  and  they 
finally  selected  a  route  which  seemed  to  com- 
bine all  varieties  of  canoeing. 

The  cruise  was  to  begin  at  the  southern  end 
of  Lake  Memphremagog,  in  Vermont.  On  this 
lake,  which  is  thirty  miles  long,  the  young  canoe- 
ists expected  to  spend  several  days,  and  to  learn 
to  handle  the  canoes  under  sail.  From  the  north- 
ern end  of  the  lake,  which  is  in  Canada,  they 
intended  to  descend  its  outlet,  the  Magog  River, 
which  is  a  narrow  stream,  emptying  into  the 
St.  Francis  River  at  Sherbrooke.  From  Sher- 


22     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

brooke  the  St.  Francis  was  to  be  descended  to 
the  St.  Lawrence,  down  which  the  canoes  were 
to  sail  to  Quebec.  They  wrote  to  the  post-master 
at  Sherbrooke  asking  him  if  the  Magog  and  the 
St.  Francis  were  navigable  by  canoes,  and  when 
he  replied  that  there  were  only  one  or  two 
rapids  in  the  Magog,  which  they  could  easily 
run,  they  were  more  then  ever  satisfied  with  their 
route. 

The  previous  cruises  that  the  boys  had  made 
had  taught  them  what  stores  and  provisions  were 
absolutely  necessary  and  what  could  be  spared. 
Each  canoe  was  provided  with  a  water-proof 
bag  to  hold  a  blanket  and  dry  clothes,  and  with 
a  pair  of  small  cushions  stuffed  with  elastic  felt, 
a  material  lighter  than  cork,  and  incapable  of 
retaining  moisture.  These  cushions  were  to  be 
used  as  mattresses  at  night,  and  the  rubber  blan- 
kets were  to  be  placed  over  the  canoes  and  used 
as  shelter  tents.  Although  the  mattresses  would 
have  made  excellent  life-preservers,  Uncle  John 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     23 

presented  each  canoeist  with  a  rubber  life-belt, 
which  could  be  buckled  around  the  waist  in  a 
few  seconds  in  case  of  danger  of  a  capsize. 
Harry  provided  his  canoe  with  a  canvas  canoe- 
tent,  made  from  drawings  published  in  the  Lon- 
don Field,  but  the  others  decided  not  to  go  to 
the  expense  of  making  similar  tents  until  Harry's 
should  have  been  thoroughly  tested. 

When  all  was  ready  the  blankets  and  stores 
were  packed  in  the  Sunshine,  the  cockpit  of 
which  was  provided  with  hatches,  which  could 
be  locked  up,  thus  making  the  canoe  serve  the 
purpose  of  a  trunk.  The  four  canoes  were  then 
sent  by  rail  to  Newport,  at  the  southern  end  of 
Lake  Memphremagog,  and  a  week  later  the  boys 
followed  them,  carrying  their  paddles  by  hand, 
for  the  reason  that,  if  they  had  been  sent  with 
the  canoes  and  had  'been  lost  or  stolen,  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  start  on  the  cruise  until 
new  paddles  had  been  procured. 

Newport  was  reached,  after  an  all-night  jour- 


24     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

ney,  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The 
canoeists  went  straight  to  the  freight-house  to 
inspect  the  canoes.  They  were  all  there,  rest- 
ing on  the  heads  of  a  long  row  of  barrels,  and 
were  apparently  all  right.  The  varnish  of  the 
Dawn  and  the  Sunshine  was  scratched  in  a  few 
places,  and  the  canvas  canoe  had  a  very  small 
hole  punched  through  her  deck,  as  if  she  had 
been  too  intimate  with  a  nail  in  the  course  of 
her  journey.  The  boys  were,  however,  well  satis- 
fied with  the  appearance  of  the  boats,  and  so 
walked  up  to  the  hotel  to  get  dinner  and  a  supply 
of  sandwiches,  bread,  and  eggs  for  their  supper. 
Dinner  was  all  ready,  for,  under  the  name  of 
breakfast,  it  was  waiting  for  the  passengers  of 
the  train,  which  made  a  stop  of  half  an  hour 
at  Newport.  A  band  was  playing  on  the  deck 
of  a  steamer  which  was  just  about  to  start  down 
the  lake,  and  the  boys  displayed  appetites,  as 
they  sat  near  the  open  window  looking  out  on 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    25 

the  beautiful  landscape,  which  rather  astonished 
the  waiter 

A  good,  quiet  place  for  launching  the  canoes 
was  found,  which  was  both  shady  and  out  of 
sight  of  the  hotel.  It  was  easy  enough  to  carry 
the  three  empty  canoes  down  to  the  shore;  but 
the  Sunshine,  with  her  heavy  cargo,  proved  too 
great  a  load,  and  about  half-way  between  the 
freight-house  and  the  shore  she  had  to  be  laid  on 
the  ground  and  partly  emptied.  Here  Joe,  who 
tried  to  carry  the  spars  and  paddles  of  four 
canoes  on  his  shoulder,  found  that  there  is  noth- 
ing more  exasperating  than  a  load  of  sticks  of 
different  sizes.  No  matter  how  firmly  he  tried 
to  hold  them  together,  they  would  spread  apart 
at  every  imaginable  angle.  Before  he  had  gone 
three  rods  he  looked  like  some  new  kind  of 
porcupine  with  gigantic  quills  sticking  out  all 
over  him.  Then  he  began  to  drop  things,  and 
stooping  to  pick  them  up,  managed  to  trip  him- 
self and  fall  with  a  tremendous  clatter.  He 


26      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

picked  himself  up  and  made  sixteen  journeys 
between  the  spot  where  he  fell  and  the  shore  of 
the  lake,  carrying  only  one  spar  at  a  time,  and 
grasping  that  with  both  hands.  His  companions 
sat  down  on  the  grass  and  laughed  to  see  the  de- 
liberate way  in  which  he  made  his  successive 
journeys,  but  Joe,  with  a  perfectly  serious  face, 
said  that  he  was  going  to  get  the  better  of  those 
spars,  no  matter  how  much  trouble  it  might  cost 
him,  and  that  he  was  not  going  to  allow  them  to 
get  together  and  play  tricks  on  him  again. 

It  was  tiresome  stooping  over,  packing  the 
canoes,  but  finally  they  were  all  in  order,  and 
the  Commodore  gave  the  order  to  launch  them. 
The  lake  was  perfectly  calm,  and  the  little  fleet 
started  under  paddle  for  a  long,  sandy  point  that 
jutted  out  into  the  lake  some  three  miles  from 
Newport.  The  Sunshine  and  the  Dawn  pad- 
dled side  by  side,  and  the  two  other  canoes  fol- 
lowed close  behind  them. 

"Boys,  isn't  this  perfectly  elegant?"  exclaimed 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     27 

Harry,  laying  down  his  paddle  when  the  fleet 
was  about  a  mile  from  the  shore  and  bathing  his 
hot  head  with  water  from  the  lake.  "Did  you 
ever  see  any  thing  so  lovely  as  this  blue  water?" 

"Yes,"  said  Charley;  "the  water's  all  right 
outside  of  the  canoes,  but  I'd  rather  have  a  little 
less  inside  of  mine." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Harry.  "Is  she 
leaking?" 

"She's  half  full  of  water,  that's  all,"  replied 
Charley,  beginning  to  bail  vigorously  with  his 
hat. 

"Halloo!"  cried  Joe,  suddenly.  "Here's  the 
water  up  to  the  top  of  my  cushions." 

"We'd  better  paddle  on  and  get  ashore  as  soon 
as  possible,"  said  Harry.  "My  boat  is  leaking 
a  little  too." 

Charley  bailed  steadily  for  ten  minutes,  and 
somewhat  reduced  the  amount  of  water  in  his 
canoe.  The  moment  he  began  paddling,  how- 
ever, the  leak  increased.  He  paddled  with  his 


28      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

utmost  strength,  knowing  that  if  he  did  not  soon 
reach  land  he  would  be  swamped;  but  the  water- 
logged canoe  was  very  heavy,  and  he  could  not 
drive  her  rapidly  through  the  water.  His  com- 
panions kept  near  him,  and  advised  him  to  drop 
his  paddle  and  to  bail,  but  he  knew  that  the  wa- 
ter was  coming  in  faster  than  he  could  bail  it 
out,  and  so  he  wasted  no  time  in  the  effort.  It 
soon  became  evident  that  his  canoe  would  never 
keep  afloat  to  reach  the  sand  spit  for  which  he 
had  been  steering,  so  he  turned  aside  and  pad- 
dled for  a  little  clump  of  rushes,  where  he  knew 
the  water  must  be  shallow.  Suddenly  he  stopped 
paddling,  and  almost  at  the  same  moment  his 
canoe  sunk  under  him,  and  he  sprung  up  to  swim 
clear  of  her. 


CHAPTER  III. 

T  UCKILY  the  water  was  only  four  feet  deep, 
-•— '  as  Charley  found  when  he  tried  to  touch 
bottom;  so  he  stopped  swimming,  and,  with  the 
water  nearly  up  to  his  shoulders,  stood  still  and 
began  to  think  what  to  do  next. 

The  canoes — including  the  sunken  Midnight 
—were  a  good  mile  from  the  shore,  and  al- 
though the  sandy  shoal  on  which  Charley  was 
standing  was  firm  and  hard  it  was  of  small  ex- 
tent, and  the  water  all  around  it  was  too  deep 
to  be  waded. 

"You'll  have  to  get  into  one  of  our  canoes," 
said  Harry. 

"How  am  I  going  to  do  it  without  capsizing 
her?"  replied  Charley. 

"I  don't  believe  it  can  be  done,"  said  Harry, 
as  he  looked  first  at  the  Sunshine  and  then  at 

20 


30     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

the  Twilight;  "but  then  you've  got  to  do  it  some- 
how. You  can't  swim  a  whole  mile,  can  you?" 

"Of  course  I  can't,  but  then  it  wouldn't  do 
me  any  good  to  spill  one  of  you  fellows  by  trying 
to  climb  out  of  the  water  into  a  canoe  that's  as 
full  now  as  she  ought  to  be.  Besides,  I'm  not 
going  to  desert  the  Midnight." 

"I  thought  the  Midnight  had  deserted  you," 
said  Joe.  "If  my  canoe  should  go  to  the  bottom 
of  the  lake  without  giving  me  any  warning,  I 
shouldn't  think  it  a  bit  rude  to  leave  her  there." 

"Don't  talk  nonsense!"  exclaimed  Charley; 
"but  come  here  and  help  me  get  my  canoe  afloat 
again.  We  can  do  it,  I  think,  if  we  go  to  work 
the  right  way." 

Charley  found  no  difficulty  in  getting  hold  of 
the  painter  of  his  canoe  with  the  help  of  his 
paddle.  Giving  the  end  of  the  painter  to  Joe, 
he  took  the  Dawn's  painter,  and  by  ducking 
down  under  the  water  succeeded  after  two  or 
three  attempts  in  reeving  it  through  the  stern- 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     31 

post  of  the  sunken  canoe,  and  giving  one  end  to 
Harry  and  the  other  to  Tom.  Then,  taking  the 
bow  painter  from  Joe,  he  grasped  it  firmly  with 
both  hands,  and  at  a  given  signal  all  the  boys, 
except  Joe,  made  a  desperate  effort  to  bring  the 
wreck  to  the  surface. 

They  could  not  do  it.  They  managed  to  raise 
her  off  the  bottom,  but  Harry  and  Tom  in  their 
canoes  could  not  lift  to  any  advantage,  and  so 
were  forced  to  let  her  settle  down  again. 

"I've  got  to  unload  her,"  said  Charley,  gloom- 
ily. "I  think  we  can  get  her  up  if  there  is  noth- 
ing in  her  except  water.  Anyhow  we've  got  to 
try." 

It  was  tiresome  work  to  get  the  water-soaked 
stores  and  canned  provisions  out  of  the  canoe, 
and  Charley  had  to  duck  his  head  under  the 
water  at  least  a  dozen  times  before  the  heaviest 
part  of  the  Midnight's  cargo  could  be  brought 
up  and  passed  into  the  other  canoes.  His  com- 
rades wanted  to  jump  overboard  and  help  him, 


32      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

but  he  convinced  them  that  they  would  have 
great  difficulty  in  climbing  back  into  their 
canoes,  and  that  in  all  probability  they  would 
capsize  themselves  in  so  doing.  "He's  right!" 
cried  Joe.  "Commodore,  please  make  an  order 
that  hereafter  only  one  canoe  shall  be  wrecked 
at  a  time.  We  must  keep  some  dry  stores  in  the 
fleet." 

When  the  Midnight  was  partly  unloaded  a 
new  and  successful  effort  was  made  to  raise  her. 
As  soon  as  she  reached  the  surface  Charley 
rolled  her  over,  bottom  upward,  and  in  this  posi- 
tion the  small  amount  of  air  imprisoned  under 
her  kept  her  afloat. 

The  cause  of  the  leak  was  quickly  discovered. 
There  was  a  hole  through  her  canvas  bottom 
nearly  an  inch  in  diameter,  made  by  some  blow 
she  had  received  while  on  the  way  to  the  lake. 
The  wonder  was,  not  that  she  sunk  when  she 
did,  but  that  she  had  floated  long  enough  to  be 
paddled  a  mile.  It  is  probable  that  the  ballast- 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    33 

bag,  which  was  close  by  the  hole,  had  partly 
stopped  the  leak  at  first,  but  had  afterward  been 
slightly  moved,  thus  permitting  the  water  to 
rush  freely  in. 

The  surface  of  painted  canvas  dries  very 
quickly  in  the  hot  sun,  and  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore the  bottom  of  the  Midnight  was  dry  enough 
to  be  temporarily  patched.  Harry  lighted  his 
spirit-lamp  and  melted  a  little  of  the  lump  of 
rosin  and  tallow  which  had  been  provided  for 
mending  leaks.  This  was  spread  over  a  patch 
of  new  canvas;  the  patch  was  then  placed  over 
the  hole,  and  more  of  the  melted  rosin  and  tallow 
smeared  over  it.  In  about  fifteen  minutes  the 
patch  was  dry  enough  to  be  serviceable,  and 
Charley  righted  the  canoe,  bailed  her  out,  and 
by  throwing  himself  across  the  cockpit,  and  then 
carefully  turning  himself  so  as  to  get  his  legs 
into  it,  found  himself  once  more  afloat  and  ready 
to  paddle. 

The  canoe  still  leaked,  but  the  leak  could  be 


34     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

kept  under  without  difficulty  by  occasional  bail- 
ing, and  in  the  course  of  half  an  hour  the  sand 
spit  for  which  the  fleet  had  started  was  reached. 
It  was  part  o'f  a  large  island  with  steep,  rocky 
shores  and  a  beautiful  little  sandy  beach.  It 
was  just  the  place  for  a  camp ;  and  though  the 
boys  had  expected  to  camp  some  miles  farther 
north,  the  sinking  of  Charley's  canoe  had  so  de- 
layed them  that  it  was  already  nearly  six  o'clock, 
and  they  therefore  decided  to  paddle  no  farther 
that  day. 

The  canoes  were  hauled  out  on  the  beach,  and 
unloaded  and  shored  up  with  their  rudders, 
backboards,  and  a  few  pieces  of  drift-wood  so 
as  to  stand  on  an  even  keel.  Then  came  the  work 
of  rigging  shelters  over  them  for  the  night. 
Harry's  canoe-tent  was  supported  by  four  small 
upright  sticks  resting  on  the  deck  and  fitting  into 
cross-pieces  sewed  into  the  roof  of  the  tent.  The 
sides  and  ends  buttoned  down  to  the  gunwale  and 
deck  of  the  canoe,  and  two  curtains,  one  on  each 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     35 

side,  which  could  be  rolled  up  like  carriage- 
curtains  in  fair  weather  and  buttoned  down  in 
rainy  weather,  served  both  as  the  doors  and 
windows  of  the  tent.  The  shelters  rigged  by 
the  other  boys  were  much  less  complete.  The 
two  masts  of  each  canoe  were  stepped,  the  pad- 
dle was  lashed  between  them,  and  a  rubber  blan- 
ket was  hung  over  the  paddle,  with  its  edges 
reaching  nearly  to  the  ground.  The  blankets 
and  the  bags  which  served  as  pillows  were  then 
arranged,  and  the  canoes  were  ready  for  the 
night. 

It  was  a  warm  and  clear  night,  and  a  breeze 
which  came  up  from  the  south  at  sunset  blew  the 
mosquitoes  away.  Harry  found  his  tent,  with 
the  curtains  rolled  up,  cool  and  pleasant;  but 
his  fellow-canoeists  found  themselves  fairly  suf- 
focating under  their  rubber  blankets,  and  were 
compelled  to  throw  them  aside. 

Toward  morning,  when  the  day  was  just  be- 
ginning to  dawn,  the  canoeists  were  suddenly 


36     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

awakened  by  a  rush  of  many  heavy,  trampling 
feet  which  shook  the  ground.  It  was  enough  to 
startle  any  one,  and  the  boys  sprung  up  in  such 
a  hurry  that  Harry  struck  his  head  against  the 
roof  of  his  tent,  knocked  it  down,  upset  the  canoe, 
and  could  not  at  first  decide  whether  he  was 
taking  part  in  a  railway  collision  or  whether 
an  earthquake  of  the  very  best  quality  had 
happened.  The  cause  of  the  disturbance  was 
a  herd  of  horses  trotting  down  to  the  water's 
edge  to  drink.  There  were  at  least  twenty  of 
them,  and  had  the  canoes  happened  to  be  in 
their  path  they  might  have  stumbled  over 
them  in  the  faint  morning  light;  in  which  case 
the  boys  would  have  had  the  experience  of 
being  shipwrecked  on  dry  land. 

A  gentle  southerly  breeze  wrinkled  the  wa- 
ter while  breakfast  was  cooking,  and  the  Com- 
modore ordered  that  the  masts  and  sails  should 
be  got  ready  for  use.  It  was  impossible  to 
make  an  early  start,  for  Charley's  blankets  had 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     37 

to  be  dried  in  the  sun,  and  the  hole  in  his  canoe 
had  to  be  repaired  with  a  new  patch  in  a  thor- 
ough and  workmanlike  way.  It  was,  therefore, 
ten  o'clock  before  the  canoes  were  ready  to  be 
launched;  and  in  the  mean  time  the  wind  had 
increased  so  much  that  the  boys  decided  to  use 
only  their  main-sails. 

The  moment  the  sails  drew  the  canoes  shot 
off  at  a  pace  which  filled  the  young  canoeists 
with  delight.  The  canoes  were  in  good  trim  for 
sailing,  as  they  were  not  overloaded ;  and  while 
they  were  skirting  the  west  shore  of  the  island 
the  water  was  quite  smooth.  Each  canoe  carried 
a  bag  partly  filled  with  sand  for  ballast,  and 
every  one  except  Joe  had  lashed  his  ballast-bag 
to  the  keelson.  This  was  a  precaution  which 
Joe  had  forgotten  to  take,  and  before  long  he 
had  good  reason  to  regret  his  error. 

As  soon  as  the  northern  end  of  the  island  was 
passed  the  canoes  came  to  a  part  of  the  lake 
where  there  was  quite  a  heavy  sea.  The  Dawn 


38      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

and  the  Twilight  were  steered  by  the  paddle, 
which  passed  through  a  row-lock  provided  for 
the  purpose;  and  Joe  and  Tom  found  little  diffi- 
culty in  keeping  their  canoes  directly  before  the 
wind.  The  two  other  canoes  were  steered  with 
rudders,  and  occasionally,  when  their  bows  dip- 
ped, their  rudders  were  thrown  nearly  out  of 
the  water,  in  consequence  of  which  they  steered 
wildly.  All  the  canoes  showed  a  tendency  to 
roll  a  good  deal,  and  now  and  then  a  little  wa- 
ter would  wash  over  the  deck.  It  was  fine  sport 
running  down  the  lake  with  such  a  breeze,  and 
the  boys  enjoyed  it  immensely. 

The  wind  continued  to  rise,  and  the  lake  be- 
came covered  with  white  caps.  "Commodore," 
said  Charley  Smith,  "I  don't  mean  to  show  any 
disrespect  to  my  commanding  officer,  but  it  seems 
to  me  this  is  getting  a  little  risky." 

"How  is  it  risky?"  asked  Harry.  "You're  a 
sailor  and  know  twice  as  much  about  boats  as 
I  do,  if  I  am  Commodore." 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    39 

"It's  risky  in  two  or  three  ways.  For  instance, 
if  the  wind  blows  like  this  much  longer  a  fol- 
lowing sea  will  swamp  some  one  of  us." 

"Oh!  we're  going  fast  enough  to  keep  out  of 
the  way  of  the  sea,"  cried  Joe. 

"Just  notice  how  your  canoe  comes  almost  to 
a  dead  stop  every  time  she  sinks  between  two 
seas,  and  you  won't  feel  quite  so  sure  that  you're 
running  faster  than  the  sea  is." 

The  boys  saw  that  Charley  was  right.  The 
canoes  were  so  light  that  they  lost  their  headway 
between  the  seas,  and  it  was  evident  that  they 
were  in  danger  of  being  overtaken  by  a  follow- 
ing sea. 

"Tell  us  two  or  three  more  dangers,  just  to 
cheer  us  up,  won't  you?"  asked  Joe,  who  was  in 
high  spirits  with  the  excitement  of  the  sail. 

"There's  the  danger  of  rolling  our  booms 
under,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  danger  that 
Harry's  canoe  and  mine  will  broach-to  when  our 
rudders  are  out  of  water." 


40      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

"What  will  happen  if  they  do  broach-to?" 

"They'll  capsize,  that's  all,"  replied  Charley. 

"What  had  we  better  do?"  asked  Harry. 
"There's  no  use  in  capsizing  ourselves  in  the 
middle  of  the  lake." 

"My  advice  is  that  we  haul  on  the  port  tack, 
and  run  over  to  the  west  shore.  The  moment 
we  get  this  wind  and  sea  on  the  quarter  we  shall 
be  all  right — though,  to  be  sure,  we've  got  more 
sail  up  than  we  ought  to  have." 

The  canoes  were  quite  near  together,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Twilight,  which  was  outsailing 
the  others;  but  even  she  was  still  near  enough 
to  be  hailed.  Harry  hailed  her,  and  ordered  the 
fleet  to  steer  for  a  cove  on  the  west  shore.  As 
soon  as  the  wind  was  brought  on  the  port  quar- 
ter the  canoes  increased  their  speed;  and  al- 
though the  Twilight  made  more  leeway  than 
the  others,  she  drew  ahead  of  them  very  fast. 
The  wind  was  now  precisely  what  the  canoes 
wanted  to  bring  out  their  sailing  qualities.  The 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    41 

Sunshine  soon  showed  that  she  was  the  most 
weatherly,  as  the  Twilight  was  the  least  weath- 
early,  of  the  fleet.  The  Midnight  kept  up  very 
fairly  with  the  Sunshine;  and  the  Dawn,  with- 
her  small  lateen-sail,  skimmed  over  the  water  so 
fast  that  it  was  evident  that  if  she  could  have 
carried  the  big  balance-lug  of  the  Sunshine  she 
would  easily  have  beaten  her. 

The  canoes  were  no  longer  in  danger  o'f  being 
swamped;  but  the  wind  continuing  to  rise,  the 
boys  found  that  they  were  carrying  more  sail 
than  was  safe.  They  did  not  want  to  take  in 
their  sails  and  paddle,  and  though  all  of  the  sails 
except  the  Dawn's  lateen  could  be  reefed,  no- 
body wanted  to  be  the  first  to  propose  to  reef; 
and  Harry,  in  his  excitement,  forgot  all  about 
reefing.  The  wind,  which  had  been  blowing  very 
steadily,  now  began  to  blow  in  gusts,  and  the 
boys  had  to  lean  'far  out  to  windward  to  keep 
their  canoes  right  side  up. 

"We  can't  keep  on  this  way  much  longer  with- 


42      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

out  coming  to  grief,"  Charley  cried  at  the  top 
of  his  lungs,  so  that  Harry,  who  was  some  dis- 
tance to  windward,  could  hear  him. 

"What  do  you  say?"  replied  Harry. 

"We've  got  too  much  sail  on,"  yelled  Charley. 

"Of  course  we'll  sail  on.  This  is  perfectly  gor- 
geous!" was  Harry's  answer. 

"He  don't  hear,"  said  Charley.  "I  say,  Joe, 
you'd  better  take  in  your  main-sail,  and  set  the 
dandy  in  its  place.  You'll  spill  yourself  pres- 
ently." 

"The  dandy's  stowed  down  below,  where  I 
can't  get  at  it.  I  guess  I  can  hold  her  up  till 
we  get  across." 

Tom  was  by  this  time  far  out  of  hailing  dis- 
tance, and  was  apparently  getting  on  very  well. 
Charley  did  not  doubt  that  he  could  manage  his 
own  canoe  well  enough,  but  he  was  very  uneasy 
about  Harry  and  Joe,  who  did  not  seem  to  realize 
that  they  were  carrying  sail  altogether  too  reck- 
lessly. The  fleet  was  nearly  two  miles  from  the 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    43 

shore,  and  a  capsize  in  the  heavy  sea  that  was 
running  would  have  been  no  joke. 

Charley  turned  part  way  around  in  his  canoe. 
to  see  if  his  life-belt  was  in  handy  reach.  As  he 
did  so  he  saw  that  the  water  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
to  windward  was  black  with  a  fierce  squall  that 
was  approaching.  He  instantly  brought  his 
canoe  up  to  the  wind,  so  that  the  squall  would 
strike  him  on  the  port  bow,  and  called  out  to 
Harry  and  Joe  to  follow  his  example.  Harry 
did  not  hear  him,  and  Joe,  instead  of  promptly 
following  Charley's  advice,  stopped  to  wondei 
what  he  was  trying  to  do.  The  squall  explained 
the  matter  almost  immediately.  It  struck  the 
Sunshine  and  the  Dawn,  and  instantly  capsized 
them,  and  then  rushed  on  to  overtake  Tom,  and 
to  convince  him  that  Lake  Memphremagog  is 
not  a  good  place  for  inexperienced  canoeists  who 
want  to  carry  sail  recklessly  in  squally  weather. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

IT^ROM  the  books  they  had  read  Harry  and 
•••  Joe  had  learned  exactly  what  to  do  in  case 
of  capsizing  under  sail,  and  had  often  discussed 
the  matter.  "When  I  capsize,"  Harry  would 
say,  "I  shall  pull  the  masts  out  of  her,  and  she'll 
then  right  of  her  own  accord.  Then  I  shall  un- 
ship the  rudder,  put  my  hands  on  the  stern-post, 
and  raise  myself  up  so  that  I  can  straddle  the 
deck,  and  gradually  work  my  way  along  until 
I  can  get  into  the  cockpit.  After  that  I  shall 
bail  her  out,  step  the  masts,  and  sail  on  again." 
Nothing  could  be  easier  than  to  describe  this 
plan  while  sitting  in  a  comfortable  room  on 
shore,  but  to  carry  it  out  in  a  rough  sea  was  a 
different  affair. 

Harry  was  not  at  all  frightened  when  he  found 
himself  in  the  water,  and  he  instantly  swum 

44 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    45 

clear  of  the  canoe,  to  avoid  becoming  entangled 
in  her  rigging.  He  then  proceeded  to  unship  the 
masts  and  the  rudder,  and  when  this  was  done 
tried  to  climb  in  over  the  stern.  He  found  that 
it  was  quite  impossible.  No  sooner  would  he 
get  astride  of  the  stern  than  the  canoe  would  roll 
and  throw  him  into  the  water  again.  After  half 
a  dozen  attempts  he  gave  it  up,  and  swimming 
to  the  side  of  the  canoe  managed  to  throw  him- 
self across  the  cockpit.  This  was  the  way  in 
which  Charley  Smith  had  climbed  into  his  canoe 
the  day  before,  and  to  Harry's  great  surprise — 
for  no  such  method  of  climbing  into  a  canoe  had 
been  mentioned  in  any  of  the  books  he  had  read 
—it  proved  successful. 

Of  course  the  deck  of  the  canoe  was  now  level 
with  the  water,  which  washed  in  and  out  of  her 
with  every  sea  that  struck  her.  Harry  seized  the 
empty  tin  can  which  he  used  as  a  bailer,  and 
which  was  made  fast  to  one  of  the  timbers  of  the 
canoe  with  a  line,  to  prevent  it  from  floating 


46      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

away,  but  he  could  not  make  any  headway  in 
bailing  her  out.  The  water  washed  into  her  just 
as  fast  as  he  could  throw  it  out  again,  and  he 
began  to  think  that  he  should  have  to  paddle  the 
canoe  ashore  full  of  water.  This  would  have 
been  hard  work,  for  with  so  much  water  in  her 
she  was  tremendously  heavy  and  unwieldy;  but, 
after  getting  her  head  up  to  the  wind  with  his 
paddle,  he  found  that  less  water  washed  into  her, 
and  after  long  and  steady  work  he  succeeded  in 
bailing  most  of  it  out. 

Meanwhile  Charley,  whose  help  Harry  had 
declined,  because  he  felt  so  sure  that  he  could  get 
out  of  his  difficulty  by  following  the  plan  that 
he  had  learned  from  books  on  canoeing,  was 
trying  to  help  Joe.  At  first  Joe  thought  it  was 
a  good  joke  to  be  capsized.  His  Lord  Ross 
lateen-sail,  with  its  boom  and  yard,  had  floated 
clear  of  the  canoe  of  its  own  accord,  and,  as  the 
only  spar  left  standing  was  a  mast  about  two 
feet  high,  she  ought  to  have  righted.  But  Joe 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     47 

had  forgotten  to  lash  his  sand-bag  to  the  keel- 
son, and  the  result  was  that  whenever  he  touched 
the  canoe  she  would  roll  completely  over  and 
come  up  on  the  other  side.  Joe  could  neither 
climb  in  over  the  stern  nor  throw  himself  across 
the  deck,  and  every  attempt  he  made  resulted 
in  securing  for  him  a  fresh  ducking.  Charley 
tried  to  help  him  by  holding  on  to  the  capsized 
canoe,  but  he  could  not  keep  it  right  side  up; 
and  as  Joe  soon  began  to  show  signs  of  becom- 
ing exhausted  Charley  was  about  to  insist  that 
he  should  hang  on  to  the  stern  of  the  Midnight, 
and  allow  himself  to  be  tower  ashore,  when 
Tom  in  the  Twilight,  arrived  on  the  scene. 

Tom  had  seen  the  Dawn  and  the  Sunshine  cap- 
size, and  was  far  enough  to  leeward  to  have  time 
to  take  in  his  sail  before  the  squall  reached  him. 
It  therefore  did  him  no  harm,  and  he  paddled  up 
against  the  wind  to  help  his  friends.  It  took 
him  some  time  to  reach  the  Dawn,  for  it  blew 
so  hard  that  when  one  blade  of  the  paddle  was 


48      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

in  the  water  he  could  hardly  force  the  other 
blade  against  the  wind.  Before  the  cruise  was 
over  he  learned  that  by  turning  one  blade  at 
right  angles  to  the  other — for  the  two  blades  of 
a  paddle  are  joined  together  by  a  ferrule  in  the 
middle — he  could  paddle  against  a  head-wind 
with  much  less  labor. 

The  Twilight,  being  an  undecked  "Rice  Lake" 
canoe,  could  easily  carry  two  persons,  and,  with 
the  help  of  Charley  and  Tom,  Joe  climbed  into 
her.  Charley  then  picked  up  the  floating  sail  of 
the  Dawn,  made  her  painter  fast  to  his  own 
stern,  and  started  under  paddle  for  the  shore. 
It  was  not  a  light  task  to  tow  the  water-logged 
canoe,  but  both  the  sea  and  the  wind  helped  him, 
and  he  landed  by  the  time  that  the  other  boys 
had  got  the  camp-fire  started  and  the  coffee 
nearly  ready. 

"Well,"  said  Harry,  "I've  learned  how  to  get 
into  a  canoe  to-day.  If  I'd  stuck  to  the  rule  and 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     49 

tried  to  get  in  over  the  stern  I  should  be  out  in 
the  lake  yet." 

"I'm  going  to  write  to  the  London  Field  and 
get  it  to  print  my  new  rule  about  capsizing," 
said  Joe. 

"What's  that?"  asked  Charley.  "To  turn 
somersaults  in  the  water?  That  was  what  you 
were  doing  all  the  time  until  Tom  came  up." 

"That  was  for  exercise,  and  had  nothing  to  do 
with  my  rule,  which  is,  'Always  have  a  fellow  in 
a  "Rice  Lake"  canoe  to  pick  you  up.' ' 

"All  your  trouble  came  from  forgetting  to  lash 
your  ballast-bag,"  remarked  Harry.  "I  hope  it 
will  teach  you  a  lesson." 

"That's  a  proper  remark  for  a  Commodore 
who  wants  to  enforce  discipline,"  cried  Charley; 
"but  I  insist  that  the  trouble  came  from  carry- 
ing too  much  sail." 

"The  sail  would  have  been  all  right  if  it 
hadn't  been  for  the  wind,"  replied  Harry. 


50      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

"And  the  wind  wouldn't  have  done  us  any 
harm  if  we  hadn't  been  on  the  lake,"  added  Joe. 

"Boys,  attention!"  cried  Harry.  "Captain 
Charles  Smith  is  hereby  appointed  sailing-mas- 
ter of  this  fleet,  and  will  be  obeyed  and  respected 
accordingly,  or,  at  any  rate,  as  much  as  he  can 
make  us  obey  and  respect  him.  Anyhow,  it  will 
be  his  duty  to  tell  us  how  much  sail  to  carry, 
and  how  to  manage  the  canoes  under  sail." 

"This  is  the  second  day  of  the  cruise,"  re- 
marked Joe  an  hour  later,  as  he  crept  into  his 
blankets,  "and  I  have  been  wet  but  once.  There 
is  something  wrong  about  it,  for  on  our  other 
cruises  I  was  always  wet  through  once  every 
day.  However,  I'll  hope  for  the  best." 

In  the  middle  of  the  night  Joe  had  reason  to 
feel  more  satisfied.  It  began  to  rain.  As  his 
rubber  blanket  was  wet,  and  in  that  state  seemed 
hotter  than  ever,  Joe  could  not  sleep  under  the 
shelter  of  it,  and,  as  on  the  previous  night,  went 
to  sleep  with  nothing  over  him  but  his  woollen 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     51 

blanket.  His  head  was  underneath  the  deck,  and 
as  the  rain  began  to  fall  very  gently,  it  did  not 
awaken  him  until  his  blanket  was  thoroughly 
wet. 

He  roused  himself  and  sat  up.  He  was  start- 
led to  see  a  figure  wrapped  in  a  rubber  blanket 
sitting  on  his  deck.  "Who's  there?"  he  asked, 
suddenly.  "Sing  out,  or  I'll  shoot!" 

"You  can't  shoot  with  a  jack-knife  or  a  tin 
bailer,  so  I'm  not  much  afraid  of  you,"  was  the 
reply. 

"Oh,  it's  you,  Tom,  is  it?"  said  Joe,  much  re- 
lieved. "What  in  the  world  are  you  doing 
there?" 

"My  canoe's  half  full  of  water,  so  I  came  out 
into  the  rain  to  get  dry." 

"Couldn't  you  keep  the  rain  out  of  the  canoe 
with  the  rubber  blanket?" 

"The  canoe  is  fourteen  feet  long,  and  hasn't 
any  deck,  and  the  blanket  is  six  feet  long.  I  had 


52     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

the  blanket  hung  over  the  paddle,  but  of  course 
the  rain  came  in  at  the  ends  of  the  canoe." 

"Well,  I'm  pretty  wet,  for  I  didn't  cover  my 
canoe  at  all.  What'll  we  do?" 

"Sit  here  till  it  lets  up,  I  suppose,"  replied 
Tom.  "It  must  stop  raining  some  time." 

"I've  got  a  better  plan  than  that.  Is  your 
rubber  blanket  dry  inside?  Mine  isn't." 

"Yes,  it's  dry  enough." 

"Let's  put  it  on  the  ground  to  lie  on,  and  use 
my  rubber  blanket  for  a  tent.  We  can  put  it 
over  a  ridge-pole  about  two  feet  from  the 
ground,  and  stake  the  edges  down." 

"What  will  we  do  for  blankets?  It's  too  cold 
to  sleep  without  them." 

"We  can  each  borrow  one  from  Harry  and 
Charley.  They've  got  two  apiece,  and  can  spare 
one  of  them." 

Joe's  plan  was  evidently  the  only  one  to  be 
adopted;  and  so  the  two  boys  pitched  their  little 
rubber  tent,  borrowed  two  blankets,  and  crept 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     53 

under  shelter.  They  were  decidedly  wet,  but 
they  lay  close  together  and  managed  to  keep 
warm.  In  the  morning  they  woke  up  rested  and 
comfortable,  to  find  a  bright  sun  shining  and 
their  clothes  dried  by  the  heat  of  their  bodies. 
Neither  had  taken  the  slightest  cold,  although 
they  had  run  what  was  undoubtedly  a  serious 
risk,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  one  does  not  easily 
take  cold  when  camping  out. 

As  they  were  enjoying  their  breakfast  the 
canoeists  naturally  talked  over  the  events  of  the 
previous  day  and  night.  Harry  had  been  kept 
perfectly  dry  by  his  canoe  tent — one  side  of 
which  he  had  left  open,  so  as  to  have  plenty  of 
fresh  air;  and  Charley  had  also  been  well  pro- 
tected from  the  rain  by  his  rubber  blanket, 
hung  in  the  usual  way  over  the  paddle,  although 
he  had  been  far  too  warm  to  be  comfortable. 

"I'm  tired  of  suffocating  under  that  rubber 
blanket  of  mine,  and  I've  invented  a  new  way 
of  covering  the  canoe  at  night,  which  will  leave 


54      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

me  a  little  air  to  breathe.  I'll  explain  it  to  you 
when  we  camp  to-night,  Joe." 

"I'm  glad  to  hear  it,  for  I've  made  up  my 
mind  that  I'd  rather  be  rained  on  than  take  a 
Turkish  bath  all  night  long  under  that  suffo- 
cating blanket." 

"Will  your  new  plan  work  on  my  canoe?" 
asked  Tom. 

"No;  nothing  will  keep  that  'Rice  Lake'  bath- 
tub of  yours  dry  in  a  rain,  unless  you  deck  her 


over." 


"That's  what  I'm  going  to  do  when  we  get  to 
Magog.  I'll  buy  some  canvas  and  deck  over  the 
ends  of  my  canoe.  Sleeping  in  her  in  the  rain 
as  she  is  now  is  like  sleeping  in  a  cistern  with 
the  water  running  into  it." 

"Now  that  we've  had  a  chance  to  try  our  sails, 
which  rig  do  you  like  best,  Sailing-master?" 
asked  Harry. 

"That  lateen-rig  that  Joe  has,"  replied  Char- 
ley. "He  can  set  his  sail  and  take  it  in  while 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     55 

the  rest  of  us  are  trying  to  find  our  halyards. 
Did  you  see  how  the  whole  concern — spars  and 
sail — floated  free  of  the  canoe  of  their  own  ac- 
cord the  moment  she  capsized?" 

"That's  so;  but  then  my  big  balance-lug  holds 
more  wind  than  Joe's  sail." 

"It  held  too  much  yesterday.  It's  a  first-rate 
rig  for  racing,  but  it  isn't  anything  like  as  handy 
as  the  lateen  for  cruising;  neither  is  my  standing- 
lug.  I  tried  to  get  it  down  in  a  hurry  yesterday, 
and  the  halyards  jammed,  and  I  couldn't  get  it 
down  for  two  or  three  minutes." 

"I  can  get  my  leg-of-mutton  in  easy  enough," 
remarked  Tom,  "but  I  can't  get  the  mast  out  of 
the  step  unless  the  water's  perfectly  smooth,  and 
I  don't  believe  I  could  then  without  going 
ashore." 

"Now,  Commodore,"  said  Charley,  "if  you'll 
give  the  order  to  start,  I'll  give  the  order  to  carry 
all  sail.  The  breeze  is  light  and  the  water  is 


56      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

smooth,  and  we  ought  to  run  down  to  the  end  of 
the  lake  by  noon." 

The  little  fleet  made  a  beautiful  appearance 
as  it  cruised  down  the  lake  under  full  sail.  The 
breeze  was  westerly,  which  fact  enabled  the 
canoes  to  carry  their  after-sails — technically 
known  as  "dandies" — to  much  advantage.  When 
running  directly  before  the  wind  the  "dandy" 
is  sometimes  a  dangerous  sail,  as  it  is  apt  to 
make  the  canoe  broach-to ;  but  with  a  wind  from 
any  other  direction  than  dead  aft  it  is  a  very 
useful  sail. 

The  canoes  sailed  faster  than  they  had  sailed 
the  day  before,  because  there  was  no  rough  sea 
to  check  their  headway.  They  rachd  Magog 
at  noon,  went  to  the  hotel  for  a  good  dinner, 
bought  some  canvas  with  which  to  deck  Tom's 
canoe,  and  then  looked  at  the  dam  which  crosses 
the  Magog  River  a  few  rods  from  the  lake,  and 
wondered  how  they  were  ever  to  get  through  the 
rapids  below  it. 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     57 

There  was  a  place  where  the  canoes  could  be 
lowered  one  by  one  over  the  breast  of  the  dam 
and  launched  in  a  little  eddy  immediately  below. 
The  rapids,  which  extended  from  below  the  dam 
for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  were,  however, 
very  uninviting  to  a  timid  canoeist.  The  water 
did  not  seem  to  be  more  than  three  or  four  feet 
deep,  but  it  was  very  swift,  and  full  of  rocks. 
"You  boys  can't  never  run  them  rapids  in  them 
boats,"  said  a  man  who  came  to  look  at  the 
canoes.  "You'll  have  to  get  a  cart  and  haul 
round  'em." 

The  boys  did  not  like  to  be  daunted  by  their 
first  rapid,  and,  as  there  did  not  seem  to  be  much 
risk  of  drowning,  they  decided  to  take  the 
chances  of  getting  the  canoes  through  it  safely. 
Harry  gave  the  order  to  lash  everything  fast  in 
the  canoes  that  could  be  washed  overboard,  and 
he  prepared  to  lead  the  way  in  the  Sunshine. 

It  was  magnificent  sport  shooting  down  the 
rapid  like  an  arrow.  The  canoes  drove  through 


58     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

two  or  three  waves  which  washed  the  decks, 
though  the  canoe-aprons  of  the  Dawn,  Sunshine, 
and  Midnight  kept  the  water  from  getting  into 
the  cockpits.  Harry's  and  Charley's  canoes  each 
struck  once  on  the  same  rock  while  in  the  rapid, 
but  in  each  case  only  the  keel  struck  the  rock, 
and  the  current  dragged  the  canoes  safely  over 
it.  When  the  fleet  was  reunited  in  the  smooth 
water  below  the  rapid  the  boys  expressed  their 
•enthusiasm  by  all  talking  at  once  at  the  top  of 
their  lungs.  Every  one  was  delighted  with  the 
way  his  canoe  had  acted,  and  with  the  skill  with 
which  he  had  avoided  this  or  that  rock,  or  had 
discovered  the  best  channel  just  at  the  right  mo- 
ment. In  their  excitement  they  let  the  canoes 
float  gently  down  the  stream,  until  they  suddenly 
discovered  another  rapid  at  the  beginning  of  a 
sharp  bend  in  the  river  just  ahead  of  them. 

It  was  nothing  like  as  fierce  in  appearance  as 
the  first  rapid,  and  as  Harry  led  the  way  the 
others  followed  close  after  him,  one  behind  the 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     59 

other,  fancying  that  they  could  run  the  rapid 
without  the  least  trouble.  Half-way  down 
Harry's  canoe  struck  on  a  rock,  swung  broadside 
to  the  current,  and  hung  there.  Tom  was  so 
close  behind  him  that  he  could  not  alter  his 
course,  and  so  ran  straight  into  the  Sunshine  with 
a  terrible  crash.  The  Dawn  and  the  Twilight 
instantly  followed,  and  as  the  four  canoes  thus 
piled  together  keeled  over  and  spilled  their  oc- 
cupants into  the  river,  it  began  to  look  as  if  the 
rapid  had  determined  to  make  the  irreverent 
young  canoeists  respect  it. 


CHAPTER  V. 

YT7HEN  the  boys  were  compelled  to  jump 
overboard  they  could  see  that  the  water 
was  only  about  two  feet  deep ;  but  they  did  not 
know  whether  they  could  stand  up  against  the 
fierce  current.  They  found  that  they  could,  al- 
though they  had  to  move  slowly  to  avoid  being 
swept  off  their  feet.  Harry's  canoe  was  easily 
pushed  off  the  rock  on  which  it  had  run,  and 
the  moment  it  was  out  of  the  way  the  other 
canoes  were  free.  Each  canoeist  seized  the  stern 
of  his  own  canoe,  and  let  it  drag  him  down  the 
rest  of  the  rapid,  which  fortunately  was  a  short 
one.  While  performing  this  feat  the  knees  of 
the  canoeists  were  scraped  over  the  rocks,  and 
they  received  several  unpleasant  bruises;  but 
they  thought  it  was  impossible  to  get  into  their 

canoes  in  swi'ft  water,  and  so  had  no  choice  ex- 

60 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     61 

cept  to  float  down  hanging  on  to  the  sterns  of  the 
canoes. 

Reaching  the  smooth  water,  they  swum  and 
pushed  the  canoes  before  them  toward  the  shore. 
Here  they  found  a  great  bank  of  sawdust  that 
had  floated  down  the  river  from  the  mill  at 
Magog,  and  it  was  so  soft  and  elastic  that  they 
determined  to  sleep  on  it  that  night,  instead  of 
sleeping  in  their  canoes,  since  the  sky  was  per- 
fectly clear  and  there  was  no  danger  of  rain. 

The  canoes  were  hauled  out  on  the  bank,  so 
that  the  stores  could  be  readily  taken  out  of 
them.  The  canvas  canoe  did  not  seem  to  be  in 
the  least  injured  either  by  the  rock  on  which 
she  had  struck  or  by  the  collision  with  the 
other  canoes.  Harry's  canoe  had  sustained  a  lit- 
tle damage  where  one  of  the  planks  had  been 
ground  against  the  rock  on  which  she  had  hung 
so  long,  but  it  was  not  enough  to  cause  her  to 
leak,  and  the  injuries  of  the  other  canoes  were 
confined  to  their  varnish. 


62     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

"All  the  trouble,"  remarked  Harry,  "came 
from  following  too  close  after  one  another.  To- 
morrow, if  we  find  any  more  rapids,  we  will 
keep  the  canoes  far  enough  apart,  so  that  if  one 
canoe  runs  aground  the  others  can  turn  out  for 
her." 

"We  could  have  got  into  the  canoes  easy 
enough  if  we  had  only  thought  so,"  said  Tom. 
"If  I'd  stood  up  on  the  rock  and  held  the  canoe 
along-side  of  it,  I  could  have  stepped  in  without 
any  difficulty." 

"Why  didn't  you  do  it,  then?"  asked  Harry. 

"Because  I  didn't  happen  to  think  of  it,  and 
because  all  the  rest  of  you  had  started  to  float 
down  after  your  canoes." 

"I  noticed  one  thing  about  a  rapid  which  if 
I  was  Commodore  it  would  be  my  duty  to  im- 
press on  your  faithful  but  ignorant  minds,"  said 
Joe.  "When  you  see  a  big  ripple  on  the  water 
the  rock  that  makes  it  isn't  under  the  ripple,  but 
is  about  four  or  five  feet  higher  up  stream." 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     63 

"That's  so!"  exclaimed  Harry.  "I  ought  to 
have  remembered  that,  for  Macgregor  speaks 
about  it  in  one  of  his  books." 

"Whereabouts  did  your  canoe  strike,  Commo- 
dore?" inquired  Charley. 

"Oh,  about  midships." 

"And  of  course  she  swung  round  broadside  to 
the  current." 

"Didn't  she,  though!  If  I'd  jumped  out  of 
her  on  the  side  I  intended  to  when  she  first  struck 
she  would  have  swung  against  my  legs ;  but  I  re- 
membered that  you  must  always  jump  out  of  a 
canoe  in  a  rapid  on  the  side  above  her." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  the  side  above  her?" 
asked  Tom. 

"I  mean  that  you  must  not  jump  out  below 
her." 

"That's  as  clear  as  anything  could  be,"  said 
Joe.  "Still,  I'd  like  to  know  what  you  mean  by 
'below  her.'  " 


64     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUty 

"There's  an  upper  end  and  a  lower  end  to 
every  rapid,  isn't  there?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  the  side  of  the  canoe  toward  the  upper 
end  of  a  rapid  is  what  I  call  'above  her.'  If  you 
jump  out  on  that  side  she  can't  float  against  your 
legs  and  smash  them." 

"Now,  if  you've  got  through  with  that  ques- 
tion," continued  Charley,  "I  want  to  say  that  if 
the  Commodore  had  put  his  stores  and  his  bal- 
last-bag in  the  stern  of  his  canoe,  so  as  to  make 
her  draw  a  good  deal  more  water  aft  than  she 
did  forward,  she  would  have  struck  aft  of  mid- 
ships, and  wouldn't  have  swung  around." 

"You're  right.  That's  just  what  Macgregor 
recommends,  but  I  forgot  it.  Boys,  I  hereby  or- 
der every  canoe  to  be  loaded  with  all  her  ballast 
and  cargo  in  the  after  compartment  before  we 
start  to-morrow." 

"And  I  want  to  remind  you  fellows  of  one 
more  thing,"  said  Charley.  "When  the  current 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     65 

is  sweeping  you  toward  a  concave  shore — that  is, 
where  the  river  makes  a  bend — don't  try  to  keep 
your  canoe  clear  of  the  shore  by  hard  paddling. 
Just  backwater  on  the  side  of  the  canoe  that  is 
toward  the  middle  of  the  river." 

"That's  Macgregor  again!"  cried  Harry;  "but 
I'd  forgotten  it.  To-morrow  we'll  run  our 
rapids  in  real  scientific  style." 

"Provided  there  are  any  more  rapids,"  sug- 
gested Tom. 

"What  did  that  Sherbrooke  postmaster  say 
about  the  Magog  rapids?"  inquired  Joe. 

"Said  there  weren't  any,  except  one  or  two 
which  we  could  easily  run,"  replied  Harry. 

"Then  wre've  probably  got  through  with  the 
rapids,"  said  Charley.  "I'm  rather  sorry,  for  it's 
good  fun  running  them." 

Supper  was  now  over,  and  the  canoeists, 
spreading  their  rubber  blankets  on  the  sawdust, 
prepared  to  "turn  in."  They  were  in  a  wild  and 
beautiful  spot.  The  great  "Rock  Forest,"  as  it 


66      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

is  called,  through  which  the  Magog  runs,  is  of 
vast  extent,  and  is  inhabited  by  bears  and  smaller 
wild  animals.  The  boys  from  their  camping 
ground  could  see  nothing  but  the  river,  the  dense 
woods  on  either  bank,  and  the  bright  moonlit 
sky  above  them.  The  rapid  was  roaring  as  if  it 
was  angry  at  having  failed  to  wreck  the  canoes, 
and  the  only  other  sound  was  the  crackling  of 
branches  in  the  forest,  and  the  occasional  sigh- 
ing of  the  gentle  breeze.  The  boys  were  tired, 
and,  lulled  by  the  sound  of  the  rapids,  soon 
dropped  asleep. 

The  recent  rains  had  dampened  the  sawdust 
to  the  depth  of  about  two  inches,  but  below  this 
depth  it  was  dry  and  inflammable.  A  small  fire 
had  been  made  with  which  to  cook  supper,  and 
the  dampness  of  the  sawdust  had  made  the  boys 
so  confident  that  the  fire  would  not  spread,  that 
they  had  not  taken  the  trouble  to  put  it  out  be- 
fore going  to  sleep. 

Now,  it  happened  that  the  damp  sawdust  on 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     67 

which  the  fire  had  been  kindled  gradually  be- 
came dry,  and  finally  took  fire.  It  burnt  very 
slowly  on  the  surface,  but  the  dry  sawdust  im- 
mediately below  burnt  like  tinder.  About  two 
hours  after  Harry  had  closed  his  eyes  he  was 
awakened  from  a  dream  that  he  had  upset  a 
burning  spirit-lamp  over  his  legs.  To  his  hor- 
ror he  saw  that  the  whole  bank  of  sawdust  was 
on  fire.  Smoke  was  everywhere  creeping  up 
through  the  damp  top  layer,  and  at  a  little  dis- 
tance from  the  canoes  the  smouldering  fire  had 
burst  into  roaring  flames. 

Harry  instantly  called  his  comrades,  and  start- 
ing up  they  rushed  to  the  canoes,  threw  their 
blankets  and  stores  into  them,  and  prepared  to 
launch  them.  They  had  not  a  moment  to  spare. 
The  flames  were  close  to  them,  and  were  spread- 
ing every  moment,  and  as  they  shoved  the  canoes 
toward  the  water  their  feet  repeatedly  sunk  down 
through  the  ashes  below  the  surface,  the  flames 
springing  up  as  they  hurriedly  drew  their  feet 


68      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

back.  It  did  not  take  many  minutes  to  get  the 
canoes  into  the  water  and  to  embark,  but  as  the 
canoeists  pushed  out  into  the  river  the  part  of  the 
bank  where  they  had  been  sleeping  burst  into 
flames. 

A  light  breeze  had  sprung  up  which  was  just 
enough  to  fan  the  fire  and  to  carry  it  into  an 
immense  pile  of  dry  driftwood  that  lay  on  the 
shore  below  the  sawdust  bank.  The  boys  waited 
in  the  quiet  eddy  near  the  bank  and  watched  the 
progress  of  the  fire.  It  licked  up  the  drift-wood 
in  a  very  few  moments,  and  then,  roaring  with 
exultation  over  the  work  it  had  done,  it  swept 
into  the  forest.  In  half  an  hour's  time  a  forest 
fire  was  burning  which  threatened  to  make  a 
terrible  destruction  of  timber,  and  the  heat  had 
grown  so  intense  that  the  canoeists  were  com- 
pelled to  drop  down  the  stream  to  avoid  it. 

Canoeing  at  night  is  always  a  ticklish  busi- 
ness, but  on  a  swift  river,  full  of  rapids,  as  is  the 
Magog,  it  is  exceedingly  dangerous.  The  fire 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    69 

lighted  the  way  for  the  fleet  for  a  short  distance, 
but  before  a  landing-place  was  reached  a  turn 
on  the  river  shut  out  the  light,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  noise  of  a  rapid  close  at  hand  was  heard. 
The  boys  had  no  desire  to  entangle  themselves 
in  unknown  rapids  in  the  dark,  and  paddled  at 
once  for  the  shore  opposite  to  that  where  the  fire 
was  raging.  They  found  when  they  reached  it 
that  it  was  a  perpendicular  bank  on  which  it  was 
impossible  to  land.  They  floated  down  a  short 
distance,  hoping  to  find  a  landing  spot,  but  none 
could  be  found.  Then  they  attempted  to  cross 
the  stream  to  the  other  shore,  hoping  that  the  fire 
would  not  spread  in  that  direction.  To  their  dis- 
may they  found  that  they  were  already  almost 
within  the  clutch  of  the  rapid.  The  current  had 
become  strong  and  swift,  and  it  was  evident  be- 
fore they  had  got  half-way  across  the  river  that 
nothing  but  the  hardest  paddling  could  keep 
them  from  being  drawn  into  the  rapid.  It  was 
an  occasion  when  everybody  had  to  look  out  for 


70     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

himself  and  depend  on  his  own  paddles  for 
safety.  The  young  canoeists  struck  out  manfully. 
Harry  was  the  first  to  reach  the  shore,  where  he 
caught  hold  of  the  root  of  a  tree  and  kept  his 
canoe  stationary.  Tom  followed  closely  behind 
him,  and  Harry  told  him  to  catch  hold  of  the 
Sunshine  until  he  could  make  the  Twilight's 
painter  fast  to  the  root.  Joe  arrived  a  little  later, 
for  his  canoe  had  run  on  a  rock,  and  for  a  few 
minutes  he  was  in  great  danger  of  a  capsize. 

The  three  canoeists  succeeded  in  tying  up  to 
the  bank,  where  they  expected  every  moment  to 
be  joined  by  Charley.  The  minutes  passed  on, 
but  Charley  did  not  appear.  His  comrades 
shouted  for  him,  but  there  was  no  answer.  In- 
deed, the  rapid  made  such  a  noise,  now  that  they 
were  close  upon  it,  that  they  could  not  have 
heard  Charley's  voice  had  he  been  a  few  yards 
from  them. 

The  fear  that  an  accident  had  happened  to 
Charley  made  the  other  boys  very  uneasy.  Joe 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     71 

cast  his  canoe  loose  and  paddled  out  into  the 
river  and  nearly  across  it,  looking  for  some  signs 
of  the  Midnight  and  her  owner,  but  he  came 
back  unsuccessful,  after  having  narrowly  escaped 
being  carried  down  the  rapid.  There  could  no 
longer  be  any  doubt  that  the  current  had  swept 
the  Midnight  away,  and  that  Charley  had  been 
compelled  to  make  the  hazardous  and  almost 
hopeless  attempt  of  running  the  rapid  in  the 
dark. 

As  soon  as  Joe  returned  Harry  said  that  he 
would  paddle  out  into  the  middle  of  the  river 
where  Charley  was  last  seen,  and  would  let  his 
canoe  drift  down  the  rapid,  but  Tom  and  Joe 
insisted  that  he  should  do  no  such  thing.  Said 
Joe,  "Either  Charley  is  drowned  or  he  isn't. 
If  he  isn't  drowned  he  is  somewhere  at  the  foot 
of  the  rapid,  where  we'll  find  him  as  soon  as  it 
gets  light.  If  he  is  drowned  it  won't  do  him 
any  good  for  another  of  us  to  get  drowned." 


72      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

"Joe  is  right,"  said  Tom.  "We  must  stay  here 
till  daylight." 

"And  meanwhile  Charley  may  be  drowned!" 
exclaimed  Harry. 

"I  don't  believe  he  is,"  replied  Tom.  "He's 
the  best  canoeist  of  any  of  us,  and  he  is  too  good 
a  sailor  to  get  frightened.  Then,  he  is  very  cau- 
tious, and  I'll  bet  that  the  first  thing  he  did  when 
he  found  himself  in  the  rapid  was  to  buckle  his 
life-belt  round  him." 

"If  he  did  that  it  wouldn't  hurt  him  if  he 
were  capsized." 

"Not  if  the  rapid  is  like  those  we've  run,  and 
the  chances  are  that  it  is.  I  feel  sure  that  Char- 
ley has  got  through  it  all  right,  and  without  los- 
ing his  canoe.  We'll  find  him  waiting  for  us 
in  the  morning." 

What  Tom  said  seemed  so  reasonable  that 
Harry  gave  up  his  wild  idea  of  running  the 
rapid,  and  agreed  to  wait  until  daylight.  It  was 
already  nearly  one  o'clock,  and  at  that  time  of 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     73 

year  the  day  began  to  dawn  by  half-past  three. 
There  was  no  opportunity  for  the  boys  to  sleep, 
but  they  occasionally  nodded  as  they  sat  in  their 
canoes.  About  two  o'clock  Harry  poked  Tom 
with  his  paddle,  and  in  a  low  voice  called  his  at- 
tention to  the  crackling  of  the  twigs  in  the  woods, 
a  short  distance  from  the  bank.  Something  was: 
evidently  making  its  way  through  the  forest  and 
coming  nearer  every  minute  to  the  canoes.  The 
boys  grasped  their  pistols  and  anxiously  waited. 
They  remembered  that  there  were  bears  in  the 
woods,  and  they  fully  believed  that  one  was  on 
its  way  down  to  the  water.  "Don't  fire,"  whis- 
pered Harry,  "till  I  give  the  word;"  but  while 
he  was  speaking  a  dark  form  parted  the  under- 
brush on  the  bank  above  them  and  came  out  into 
full  view. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

'nr^HE  early  morning  visitor  was  not  a  bear. 
•*•  He  was  a  very  welcome  visitor,  for  as  soon 
as  he  made  himself  visible  he  was  seen  to  be  the 
missing  canoeist.  Charley  was  very  wet  and 
cold  but  he  was  soon  furnished  with  dry  clothes 
and  a  blanket,  and  warmed  with  a  cup  of  hot 
coffee  made  with  the  help  of  Harry's  spirit- 
lamp  ;  and  as  he  lay  on  the  bank  and  waited  for 
daylight  he  told  the  story  of  his  midnight  run 
down  the  rapid. 

When  the  boys  were  crossing  the  river  above 
the  rapid  Charley's  canoe  was  close  behind  Joe's. 
The  latter  ran  on  a  rock,  and  in  order  to  avoid 
her  Charley  was  compelled  to  pass  below  the 
rock.  In  so  doing  he  found  himself  in  great 
danger  of  running  on  another  rock,  and  in  his 
effort  to  avoid  this  he  drifted  still  farther  down 

74 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     75 

the  river.  Before  he  was  aware  of  his  danger 
he  was  caught  by  the  current  at  the  head  of  the 
rapid.  He  had  just  time  to  turn  his  canoe  so 
as  to  head  her  down  stream  and  to  buckle  hi? 
life-belt  around  him.  In  another  second  he  was 
rushing  down  the  rapid  at  a  rate  that,  in  view 
of  the  darkness,  was  really  frightful. 

It  was  useless  to  attempt  to  guide  the  canoe. 
Charley  could  see  so  little  in  advance  of  him 
that  he  could  not  choose  his  channel  nor  avoid 
any  rock  that  might  lie  in  his  path.  He,  there- 
fore, sat  still,  trusting  that  the  current  would 
carry  him  into  the  deepest  channel  and  keep  him 
clear  of  the  rocks.  The  rapid  seemed  to  be  a 
very  long  one,  but  the  Midnight  ran  it  without 
taking  in  a  drop  of  water  or  striking  a  single 
rock. 

As  soon  as  quiet  water  was  reached  Charley 
paddled  to  the  shore,  intending  to  make  his  canoe 
fast  and  to  sleep  quietly  in  her  until  morning. 
He  was  in  high  spirits  at  having  successfully  run 


76     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

a  rapid  in  the  dark,  and  he  paddled  so  carelessly 
that  just  as  he  was  within  a  yard  of  the  shore  the 
canoe  ran  upon  a  sunken  log,  spilled  her  captain 
into  the  water,  and  then  floated  off  in  the  dark- 
ness and  disappeared. 

Charley  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  ashore, 
but  he  was  wet  to  the  skin,  and  his  dry  clothes 
and  all  his  property,  except  his  paddle,  had  gone 
on  a  cruise  without  him.  There  was  nothing  for 
him  to  do  but  to  make  his  way  back  along  the 
bank  to  the  other  boys.  This  proved  to  be  a  tire- 
some task.  The  woods  were  very  thick,  and  full 
of  underbrush  and  fallen  trunks.  Charley  was 
terribly  scratched,  and  his  clothes  badly  torn, 
as  he  slowly  forced  his  way  through  the  bushes 
and  among  the  trees.  He  was  beginning  to  think 
that  he  would  never  reach  the  boys,  when  he 
fortunately  heard  their  voices  as  they  whispered 
together. 

When  morning  dawned  the  canoeists,  feeling 
extremely  cramped  and  stiff,  cast  their  canoes 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    77 

loose,  and  started  down  the  river,  intending,  if 
possible,  to  find  Charley's  canoe,  and  then  go 
ashore  for  breakfast  and  a  good  long  sleep.  The 
rapid  had  been  run  so  easily  by  Charley  in  the 
night  that  they  rightly  imagined  they  would  find 
no  difficulty  in  running  it  by  daylight.  Tom 
took  Charley  in  the  Twilight,  and  the  fleet,  with 
Harry  leading  the  way,  passed  through  the  rapid 
without  accident.  The  boys  could  not  but  won* 
der  how  Charley  had  escaped  the  rocks  in  the 
darkness,  for  the  rapid,  which  was  much  the 
roughest  and  swiftest  they  had  yet  seen,  seemed 
to  be  full  of  rocks. 

Not  very  far  below  the  rapid  the  missing 
canoe  was  discovered  aground  in  an  eddy.  She 
was  uninjured;  and  as  there  was  a  sandy  beach 
and  plenty  of  shade  near  at  hand  the  boys  went 
ashore,  made  their  breakfast,  and,  lying  down  on 
their  rubber  blankets,  slept  until  the  afternoon. 

It  was  time  for  dinner  when  the  tired  canoe- 
ists awoke,  and  by  the  time  they  had  finished 


78      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

their  meal  and  were  once  more  afloat  it  was 
nearly  three  o'clock.  They  ran  three  more  rapids 
without  any  trouble.  Their  canoes  frequently 
struck  on  sunken  rocks ;  but  as  they  were  loaded 
so  as  to  draw  more  water  aft  than  they  did  for- 
ward, they  usually  struck  aft  of  midships,  and 
did  not  swing  around  broadside  to  the  current. 
When  a  canoe  struck  in  this  way  her  captain  un- 
jointed  his  paddle,  and,  taking  a  blade  in  each 
hand,  generally  succeeded  in  lifting  her  clear 
of  the  rock  by  pushing  with  both  blades  against 
the  bottom  of  the  river.  In  the  next  rapid  Joe's 
canoe  ran  so  high  on  a  rock  that  was  in  the  full 
force  of  the  current  that  he  could  not  get  her 
afloat  without  getting  out  of  her.  He  succeeded 
in  getting  into  her  again,  however,  without  diffi- 
culty, by  bringing  her  alongside  of  the  rock  on 
which  he  was  standing,  although  he  had  to  step 
in  very  quickly,  as  the  current  swept  her  away 
the  moment  he  ceased  to  hold  her. 

In  running  these  rapids  the  canoes  were  kept 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    79 

at  a  safe  distance  apart,  so  that  when  one  ran 
aground  the  one  following  her  had  time  to  steer 
clear  of  her.  At  Charley's  suggestion  the  painter 
of  each  canoe  was  rove  through  the  stern-post 
instead  of  the  stem-post.  By  keeping  the  end 
of  the  painter  in  his  hand  the  canoeist  whose 
canoe  ran  aground  could  jump  out  and  feel  sure 
that  the  canoe  could  not  run  away  from  him,  and 
that  he  could  not  turn  her  broadside  to  the 
stream  by  hauling  on  the  painter,  as  would  have 
been  the  case  had  the  painter  been  rove  through 
the  stem-post. 

"I  want  to  see  that  Sherbrooke  postmaster!" 
exclaimed  Joe,  after  running  what  was  the 
seventh  rapid,  counting  from  the  dam  at  Ma- 
gog. "He  said  there  were  only  one  or  two  little 
rapids  in  this  river.  Why,  there  isn't  anything 
but  rapids  in  it!" 

"There's  something  else  just  ahead  of  us  worse 
than  rapids,"  said  Charley.  "Look  at  that 
smoke." 


8o     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

Just  a  little  distance  below  the  fleet  the  river 
was  completely  hidden  by  a  dense  cloud  of  smoke 
that  rested  on  the  water  and  rose  like  a  heavy 
fog-bank  above  the  tops  of  the  highest  trees.  It 
was  caused  by  a  fire  in  the  woods — probably  the 
very  fire  which  the  boys  had  started  on  the  pre- 
vious night.  How  far  down  the  river  the  smoke 
extended,  and  whether  any  one  could  breathe 
while  in  it,  were  questions  of  great  importance 
to  the  canoeists. 

The  fleet  stopped  just  before  reaching  the 
smoke,  and  the  boys  backed  water  gently  with 
their  paddles  while  they  discussed  what  they 
had  better  do.  It  was  of  no  use  to  go  ashore  with 
the  hope  of  finding  how  far  the  smoke  extended, 
for  it  would  have  been  as  difficult  to  breathe  on 
shore  as  on  the  water. 

"There's  one  good  thing  about  it,"  said  Char- 
ley: "the  smoke  blows  right  across  the  river, 
so  the  chances  are  that  it  does  not  extend  very 
far  down  stream." 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     81 

"We  can't  hear  the  noise  of  any  rapid,"  said 
Harry,  "and  that's  another  good  thing.  There 
can't  be  a  rapid  of  any  consequence  within  the 
next  quarter  of  a  mile." 

"Then  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,  with  the  Com- 
modore's permission,"  continued  Charley. 
"There  is  no  use  in  staying  here  all  day,  for  that 
smoke  may  last  for  any  length  of  time.  I'll  tie 
a  wet  handkerchief  around  my  mouth  and  nose, 
and  take  the  chances  of  paddling  through  the 
smoke.  It  isn't  as  thick  close  to  the  water  as  it 
looks  to  be,  and  I  haven't  the  least  doubt  that  I 
can  run  through  it  all  right." 

"But  suppose  you  get  choked  with  smoke,  or 
get  into  a  dangerous  rapid?"  suggested  Tom. 

"There  isn't  any  rapid  near  us,  or  we  would 
hear  it,  and  I  don't  think  the  smoke  will  hurt 
me  while  I  breathe  through  a  wet  handkerchief. 
At  any  rate,  I'd  rather  try  it  than  sit  here  and 
wait  for  the  smoke  to  disappear." 

It  was  decided,  after  farther  discussion,  that 


82     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

Charley  should  attempt  to  paddle  through  the 
smoke,  if  he  really  wished  to  do  so ;  and  that  he 
should  blow  a  whistle  if  he  got  through  all  right, 
and  thought  that  the  other  boys  could  safely  fol- 
low his  example.  Paddling  a  little  way  up 
stream,  so  as  to  have  room  to  get  up  his  fastest 
rate  of  speed  before  reaching  the  smoke,  Char- 
ley started  on  his  hazardous  trip.  He  disap- 
peared in  the  smoke  with  his  canoe  rushing  along 
at  a  tremendous  rate,  and  in  a  few  seconds  his 
comrades  heard  him  calling  to  them  to  come  on 
without  fear. 

They  followed  Charley's  example  in  covering 
their  mouths  and  noses  with  wet  handkerchiefs, 
and  in  paddling  at  the  top  of  their  speed.  They 
were  agreeably  surprised  to  find  that  the  belt 
of  smoke  was  only  a  few  yards  wide,  and  that 
almost  before  they  had  begun  to  find  any  diffi- 
culty in  breathing  they  emerged  into  pure  air 
and  sunlight. 

"It  was  a  risky  business  for  you,  Charley," 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLU$    83 

said  Harry,  "for  the  smoke  might  have  covered 
the  river  for  the  next  quarter  of  a  mile." 

"But  then  it  didn't,  you  see,"  replied  Charley. 
"How  cheap  we  should  have  felt  if  we  had 
waited  till  morning  for  the  smoke  to  blow  away, 
and  then  found  that  we  could  have  run  through 
it  as  easily  as  we  have  done!" 

"Still,  I  say  it  was  risky." 

"Well,  admitting  that  it  was,  what  then?  We 
can't  go  canoeing  unless  we  are  ready  to  take 
risks  occasionally.  If  nobody  is  ever  to  take 
a  risk,  there  ought  not  to  be  any  canoes,  or  ships, 
or  railroads." 

"That  Sherbrooke  postmaster  isn't  afraid  to 
take  risks,"  observed  Joe.  "If  he  keeps  on  tell- 
ing canoeists  that  there  are  no  rapids  in  this 
river,  some  of  these  days  he'll  have  an  accident 
with  a  large  canoeist  and  a  heavy  paddle.  We've 
run  seven  rapids  already,  and  have  another  one 
ahead  of  us.  If  we  ever  get  to  Sherbrooke,  I 
think  it  will  be  our  duty  to  consider  whether 


84      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

that  postmaster  ought  to  be  allowed  to  live  any 
longer." 

Just  before  sunset  the  fleet  reached  Magog 
Lake,  a  placid  sheet  of  water  about  four  miles 
long,  with  three  or  four  houses  scattered  along 
its  eastern  shore.  At  one  of  these  houses  eggs, 
milk,  butter,  bread,  a  chicken,  and  a  raspberry 
pie  were  bought,  and  the  boys  went  into  camp 
near  the  lower  end  of  the  lake.  After  a  mag- 
nificent supper  they  went  to  bed  rather  proud  of 
their  achievements  during  the  last  day  and  night. 

The  next  day  the  canoeists  started  in  the  cool 
of  the  morning,  and  as  soon  as  they  left  the  lake 
found  themeslves  at  the  head  of  their  eighth 
rapid.  All  that  day  they  paddled  down  the 
river,  running  rapids  every  little  while,  jumping 
overboard  when  their  canoes  ran  aground  and 
refused  to  float,  and  occasionally  slipping  on  the 
smooth  rocky  bottom  of  the  stream  and  sitting 
down  violently  in  the  water.  Once  they  came  to 
a  dam,  over  which  the  canoes  had  to  be  lowered, 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     85 

and  on  the  brink  of  which  Joe  slipped  and  slid 
with  awful  swiftness  into  the  pool  below,  from 
which  he  escaped  with  no  other  injury  than  torn 
trousers  and  wet  clothes. 

"That  postmaster  said  there  were  no  dams  in 
the  Magog,  didn't  he?"  asked  Joe  as  he  prepared 
to  get  into  his  canoe.  "Well,  I  hope  he  hasn't 
any  family." 

"Why,  what  about  his  family?"  demanded 
Tom. 

"Nothing;  only  I'm  going  to  try  to  get  him  to 
come  down  the  Magog  in  a  canoe,  so  he  can  see 
what  a  nice  run  it  is.  I  suppose  his  body  will  be 
found  some  time,  unless  the  bears  get  at  him." 

"That's  all  rubbish,  Joe,"  said  Charley.  "We 
wouldn't  have  had  half  the  fun  we've  had  if  there 
hadn't  been  any  rapids  in  the  river.  We're  none 
the  worse  for  getting  a  little  wet." 

"We  might  have  had  less  fun,  but  then  I'd 
have  had  more  trousers  if  it  hadn't  been  for  that 


86     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

dam.  I  like  fun  as  well  as  anybody,  but  I  can't 
land  at  Sherbrooke  with  these  trousers." 

"I  see  Sherbrooke  now!"  exclaimed  Harry; 
"so  you'd  better  change  your  clothes  while  you 
have  a  chance." 

Sherbrooke  was  coming  rapidly  into  sight  as 
the  fleet  paddled  down  the  stream,  and  in  the 
course  of  half  an  hour  the  boys  landed  in  the 
village,  near  a  dam  which  converted  the  swift 
Magog  into  a  lazy  little  pond.  While  his  com- 
rades drew  the  canoes  out  of  the  water  and 
made  them  ready  to  be  carted  to  the  St.  Francis, 
Harry  went  to  engage  a  cart.  He  soon  returned 
with  a  big  wagon  large  enough  to  take  two  canoes 
at  once;  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  fleet  was 
resting  in  the  shade  on  the  bank  of  the  St.  Fran- 
cis, and  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  inquisitive 
men,  boys,  and  girls. 

It  was  difficult  to  convince  the  men  that  the 
canoes  had  actually  come  from  Lake  Memphre- 
magog  by  the  river,  and  the  boys  were  made 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     87 

very  proud  of  their  success  in  running  rapids 
which,  the  men  declared,  could  only  be  run  in 
skiffs  during  a  freshet.  Without  an  exception 
all  the  men  agreed  that  there  were  rapids  in  the 
St.  Francis  which  were  really  impassable,  and 
that  it  would  be  foolish  for  the  boys  to  think  of 
descending  that  river.  After  making  careful  in- 
quiries, and  convincing  themselves  that  the  men 
were  in  earnest,  the  canoeists  retired  some  dis- 
tance from  the  crowd  and  held  a  council. 

"The  question  is,"  said  Harry,  "shall  we  try 
the  St.  Francis  after  what  we  have  heard?  The 
youngest  officer  present  will  give  his  opinion 
first.  What  do  you  say,  Joe?" 

"I  think  I've  had  rapids  and  dams  enough," 
replied  Joe ;  "and  I'd  rather  try  some  river  where 
we  can  sail.  I  vote  against  the  St.  Francis." 

"What  do  you  say,  Tom?" 

"I'll  do  anything  the  rest  of  you  like;  but  I 
think  we'd  better  give  the  St.  Francis  up." 

"Now,  Charley,  how  do  you  vote?" 


88     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

"For  going  down  the  St.  Francis.  I  don't 
believe  these  men  know  much  about  the  river,  or 
anything  about  canoes.  Let's  stick  to  our  orig- 
inal plan." 

"There  are  two  votes  against  the  St.  Francis, 
and  one  for  it,"  said  Harry.  "I  don't  want  to 
make  a  tie,  so  I'll  vote  with  the  majority.  Boys, 
we  won't  go  down  the  St.  Francis,  but  we'll  go 
to  the  hotel,  stay  there  over  Sunday,  and  decide 
where  we  will  cruise  next." 

"All  right,"  said  Joe,  going  to  his  canoe,  and 
taking  a  paddle  blade  in  his  hand. 

"What  in  the  world  are  you  going  to  take  that 
paddle  to  the  hotel  for?"  asked  Harry. 

"I'm  going  to  see  the  postmaster  who  said 
there  were  no  rapids  in  the  Magog  or  the  St. 
Francis;  that's  all,"  replied  Joe.  "I've  a  painful' 
duty  to  perform,  and  I'm  going  to  perform  it." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

\  COUNCIL  was  held  at  the  hotel,  and  a 
4  *•  dozen  different  water-routes  were  dis- 
cussed. As  the  boys  still  wanted  to  carry  out 
their  original  design  of  making  a  voyage  to 
Quebec,  they  decided  to  take  the  canoes  by  rail  to 
Rouse's  Point,  and  from  thence  to  descend  the 
Richelieu  River  to  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  rail- 
way journey  would  take  nearly  a  whole  day,  but 
they  thought  it  would  be  a  rather  pleasant  change 
from  the  close  confinement  of  canoeing.  For  it 
must  be  admitted  that,  delightful  as  they  had 
found  canoeing  to  be,  the  task  of  sitting  for  hours 
in  the  cockpit  of  a  canoe  with  scarcely  a  possi- 
bility of  materially  changing  one's  position  was 
tiresome,  and  the  boys,  after  a  night's  sleep  at 
the  Sherbrooke  hotel,  felt  decidedly  stiff. 

As  it  would  have  taken  three  days  to  send  the 

89 


90     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

canoes  to  Rouse's  Point  by  freight,  the  canoeists 
were  compelled  to  take  them  on  the  same  train 
with  themselves.  They  went  to  the  express  office 
on  Monday  morning  and  tried  to  make  a  bargain 
with  the  express  company.  The  agent  astonished 
them  by  the  enormous  price  which  he  demanded, 
and  Harry,  who  acted  as  spokesman  for  the  ex- 
pedition, told  him  that  it  was  outrageous  to  ask 
such  a  price  for  carrying  four  light  canoes. 

The  man  turned  to  a  book  in  which  were  con- 
tained the  express  company's  rates  of  charges, 
and  showed  Harry  that  there  was  a  fixed  rate  for 
rowboats  and  shells. 

"But,"  said  Harry,  "a  canoe  is  not  a  row-boat 
nor  a  shell.  What  justice  is  there  in  charging 
as  much  for  a  fourteen-foot  canoe  as  for  a  forty- 
foot  shell?" 

"Well,"  said  the  agent,  "I  dunno  as  it  would 
be  fair.  But,  then,  these  canoes  of  yours  are 
pretty  near  as  big  as  row-boats." 

"A  canoe  loaded  as  ours  are  don't  weigh  over 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    91 

one  hundred  and  ten  pounds.  How  much  does 
a  row-boat  weigh?" 

"Well,  about  two  or  three  hundred  pounds." 

"Then,  is  it  fair  to  charge  as  much  for  a  canoe 
as  for  a  row-boat,  that  weighs  three  times  as 
milch?" 

The  agent  found  it  difficult  to  answer  this  ar- 
gument, and  after  thinking  the  matter  over  he 
agreed  to  take  the  canoes  at  half  the  rate  ordi- 
narily charged  for  row-boats.  The  boys  were 
pleased  with  their  victory  over  him,  but  they 
still  felt  that  to  be  compelled  to  pay  four  times 
as  much  for  the  canoes  as  they  paid  for  their  own 
railroad-tickets  was  an  imposition. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  train  rolled  into  the  Sher- 
brooke  station.  To  the  great  disappointment  of 
the  boys,  no  express-car  was  attached  to  it,  the 
only  place  for  express  packages  being  a  smal] 
compartment  twelve  feet  long  at  one  end  of  the 
smoking-car.  It  was  obvious  that  canoes  four- 
teen feet  long  could  not  go  into  a  space  only 


92     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

twelve  feet  long,  and  it  seemed  as  if  it  would  be 
necessary  to  wait  twelve  hours  for  the  night- 
train,  to  which  a  large  express-car  was  always 
attached.  But  the  conductor  of  the  train  was 
a  man  who  could  sympathize  with  boys,  and  who 
had  ideas  of  his  own.  He  uncoupled  the  engine, 
which  was  immediately  in  front  of  the  smoking- 
car,  and  then  had  the  canoes  taken  in  through 
the  door  of  the  smoking-car  and  placed  on  the 
backs  of  the  seats.  Very  little  room  was  left  for 
passengers  who  wanted  to  smoke;  but  as  there 
were  only  four  or  five  of  these  they  made  no  com- 
plaint. The  canoes,  with  blankets  under  them, 
to  protect  the  backs  of  the  seats,  rode  safely,  and 
when,  late  in  the  afternoon,  Rouse's  Point  was 
reached,  they  were  taken  out  of  the  car  without 
a  scratch. 

There  was  just  time  enough  before  sunset  to 
paddle  a  short  distance  below  the  fort,  where 
a  camping-ground  was  found  that  would  have 
been  very  pleasant  had  there  been  fewer  mos- 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     93 

quitoes.  They  were  the  first  Canadian  mosqui- 
toes that  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  young 
canoeists,  and  they  seemed  to  be  delighted.  They 
sung  and  buzzed  in  quiet  excitement,  and  fairly 
drove  the  boys  from  their  supper  to  the  shelter 
of  the  canoes. 

Harry  had  a  long  piece  of  mosquito-netting, 
which  he  threw  over  the  top  of  his  canoe-tent, 
and  which  fell  over  the  openings  on  each  side  of 
the  tent,  thus  protecting  the  occupants  of  the 
canoe  from  mosquitoes  without  depriving  him 
of  air.  None  of  the  other  boys  had  taken  the 
trouble  to  bring  mosquito-netting  with  them,  ex- 
cept Charley,  who  had  a  sort  of  mosquito-netting 
bag,  which  he  drew  over  his  head,  and  which 
prevented  the  mosquitoes  from  getting  at  his 
face  and  neck. 

As  for  Joe  and  Tom,  the  mosquitoes  fell  upon 
them  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  soon  reduced 
them  to  a  most  miserable  condition.  Tom  was 
compelled  to  cover  his  head  with  his  India- 


94     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

rubber  blanket,  and  was  nearly  suffocated.  Joe 
managed  to  tie  a  handkerchief  over  his  face  in 
such  a  way  as  to  allow  himself  air  enough  to 
breathe,  and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  off  the 
mosquitoes.  Instead  of  covering  the  rest  of  hir 
body  with  his  blanket,  he  deliberately  exposed  a 
bare  arm  and  part  of  a  bare  leg,  in  hopes  that  he 
could  thus  satisfy  the  mosquitoes  and  induce 
them  to  be  merciful.  At  the  end  of  half  an  hour 
both  Tom  and  Joe  felt  that  they  could  endure  the 
attacks  of  the  insatiable  insects  no  longer.  They 
got  up,  and,  stirring  the  embers  of  the  fire,  soon 
started  a  cheerful  blaze.  There  were  plenty  of 
hemlock-trees  close  at  hand,  and  the  hemlock- 
boughs  when  thrown  on  the  fire  gave  out  a  great 
deal  of  smoke.  The  two  unfortunate  boys  sat 
in  the  lee  of  the  fire  and  nearly  choked  them- 
selves with  smoke;  but  they  could  endure  the 
smoke  better  than  the  mosquitoes,  and  so  they 
were  left  alone  by  the  latter.  In  the  course  of 
the  next  hour  a  breeze  sprung  up,  which  blew 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     95 

the  mosquitoes  away,  and  the  sleepy  and  nearly 
stifled  boys  were  permitted  to  go  to  bed  and  to 
sleep. 

The  wind  died  down  before  morning  and  the 
mosquitoes  returned.  As  soon  as  it  was  light  the 
canoeists  made  haste  to  get  breakfast  and  to  pad- 
dle out  into  the  stream.  The  mosquitoes  let 
them  depart  without  attempting  to  follow  them; 
and  the  boys,  anchoring  the  canoes  by  making 
the  ballast-bags  fast  to  the  painters,  enjoyed  an 
unmolested  bath.  As  they  were  careful  to 
anchor  where  the  water  was  not  quite  four  feet 
deep  they  had  no  difficulty  in  climbing  into  the 
canoes  after  the  bath.  Joe's  mishap  on  Lake 
Memphremagog  had  taught  them  that  getting 
into  a  canoe  in  deep  water  was  easier  in  theory 
than  in  practice. 

Later  in  the  morning  the  usual  southerly 
breeze,  which  is  found  almost  every  morning 
on  the  Richelieu,  gave  the  canoeists  the  oppor- 
tunity of  making  sail — an  opportunity  that  was 


96      THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

all  the  more  welcome  since  the  cruise  down  the 
Magog  had  been  exclusively  a  paddling  cruise. 
The  breeze  was  just  fresh  enough  to  make  it 
prudent  for  the  canoes  to  carry  their  main-sails 
only,  and  to  give  the  canoeists  plenty  of  employ- 
ment in  watching  the  gusts  that  came  through 
the  openings  in  the  woods  that  lined  the  western 
shore. 

About  twelve  miles  below  Rouse's  Point  the 
fleet  reached  "lie  aux  Noix,"  a  beautiful  island, 
in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  with  a  somewhat 
dilapidated  fort  at  its  northern  end.  The  boys 
landed  and  examined  the  fort,  and  the  ruined 
barracks  which  stood  near  it.  The  ditch  sur- 
rounding the  fort  was  half  rilled  with  the  wooden 
palisades  which  had  rotted  and  fallen  into  it, 
and  large  trees  had  sprung  up  on  the  grassy 
slope  of  the  outer  wall.  The  interior  was,  how- 
ever, in  good  repair,  and  in  one  of  the  granite 
casemates  lived  an  Irishman  and  his  wife,  who 
were  the  entire  garrison.  In  former  years  the 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB     97 

"He  aux  Noix"  fort  was  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant defences  of  the  Canadian  frontier,  and 
even  in  its  present  forlorn  condition  it  could  be 
defended  much  longer  than  could  the  big  Ameri- 
can fort  at  Rouse's  Point.  The  boys  greatly  en- 
joyed their  visit  to  the  island,  and  after  lunch 
set  sail,  determined  to  make  the  most  of  the 
fair  wind  and  to  reach  St.  John  before  night. 

The  breeze  held,  and  in  less  than  three  hours 
the  steeples  and  the  railway  bridge  of  St.  John 
came  in  view.  The  canoeists  landed  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  town ;  and  Harry  and  Charley,  leaving 
the  canoes  in  charge  of  the  other  boys,  went  in 
search  of  the  Custom-house  officer  whose  duty 
it  was  to  inspect  all  vessels  passing  from  the 
United  States  into  Canada  by  way  of  the  Riche- 
lieu River.  Having  found  the  officer,  who  was 
a  very  pleasant  man,  and  who  gave  the  fleet  per- 
mission to  proceed  on  its  way  without  searching 
the  canoes  for  smuggled  goods,  Harry  and 
Charley  walked  on  to  examine  the  rapids,  which 


98     THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

begin  just  below  the  railway  bridge.  From  St. 
John  to  Chambly,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles, 
the  river  makes  a  rapid  descent,  and  is  entirely 
unnavigable  for  anything  except  canoes.  A 
canal  around  the  rapids  enables  canal  boats  and 
small  vessels  to  reach  the  river  at  Chambly, 
where  it  again  becomes  navigable ;  but  the  boys 
did  not  like  the  idea  of  paddling  through  the 
canal,  and  greatly  preferred  to  run  the  rapids. 
The  first  rapid  was  a  short  but  rough  one. 
Still,  it  was  no  worse  than  the  first  of  the  Magog 
rapids,  and  Harry  and  Charley  made  up  their 
minds  that  it  could  be  safely  run.  The  men  of 
whom  they  made  inquiries  as  to  the  rapids 
farther  down  said  that  they  were  impassable,  and 
that  the  canoes  had  better  pass  directly  into  the 
canal,  without  attempting  to  run  even  the  first 
rapid.  Harry  was  inclined  to  think  that  this 
advice  was  good,  but  Charley  pointed  out  that 
it  would  be  possible  to  drag  the  canoes  up  the 
bank  of  the  river  and  launch  them  in  the  canal 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB    99 

at  any  point  between  St.  John  and  Chambly, 
and  that  it  would  be  time  enough  to  abandon 
the  river  when  it  should  really  prove  to  be 
impassable. 

Returning  to  the  canoes,  the  Commodore  gave 
the  order  to  prepare  to  run  the  rapids.  In  a 
short  time  the  fleet,  with  the  Sunshine  in  ad- 
vance, passed  under  the  bridge;  and  narrowly 
escaping  shipwreck  on  the  remains  of  the  wooden 
piles  that  once  supported  a  bridge  that  had  been 
destroyed  by  fire,  entered  the  rapid.  There  was 
quite  a  crowd  gathered  to  watch  the  canoes  as 
they  passed,  but  those  people  who  wanted  the 
excitement  of  seeing  the  canoes  wrecked  were 
disappointed.  Not  a  drop  of  water  found  its 
way  into  the  cockpit  of  a  single  canoe;  and 
though  there  was  an  ugly  rock  near  the  end  of 
the  rapid,  against  which  each  canoeist  fully  ex- 
pected to  be  driven  as  he  approached  it,  the  run 
was  made  without  the  slightest  accident. 

Drifting  down  with  the  current  a  mile  or  two 


ioo   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

below  the  town,  the  boys  landed  and  encamped 
for  the  night.  While  waiting  at  St.  John,  Joe 
and  Tom  had  provided  themselves  with  mos- 
quito-netting, but  they  had  little  use  for  it,  for 
only  a  few  mosquitoes  made  the  discovery  that 
four  healthy  and  attractive  boys  were  within 
reach.  The  night  was  cool  and  quiet,  and  the 
canoeists,  tired  with  their  long  day's  work,  slept 
until  late  in  the  morning. 

Everything  was  prepared  the  next  day  for  run- 
ning the  rapids  which  the  men  at  St.  John  had 
declared  to  be  impassable.  The  spars  and  all 
the  stores  were  lashed  fast;  the  sand-bags  were 
placed  in  the  after-compartments;  the  painters 
were  rove  through  the  stern-posts,  and  the  life- 
belts were  placed  where  they  could  be  buckled 
on  at  an  instant's  notice.  After  making  all  these 
preparations  it  was  rather  disappointing  to  find 
no  rapids  whatever  between  St.  John  and 
Chambly,  or  rather  the  Chambly  railway 
bridge. 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  101 

"It  just  proves  what  I  said  yesterday,"  re- 
marked Charley,  turning  round  in  his  canoe  to 
speak  to  his  comrades,  who  were  a  boat's  length 
behind  him.  "People  who  live  on  the  banks 
of  a  river  never  know  anything  about  it.  Now, 
I  don't  believe  there  is  a  rapid  in  the  whole 
Richelieu  River,  except  at  St.  John.  Halloo  1 
keep  back,  boys — " 

While  he  was  speaking  Charley  and  his  canoe 
disappeared  as  suddenly  as  if  the  earth,  or  rather 
the  water,  had  opened  and  swallowed  them.  The 
other  boys  in  great  alarm  backed  water,  and  then 
paddling  ashore  as  fast  as  possible,  sprung  out 
of  their  canoes  and  ran  along  the  shore,  to  dis- 
cover what  had  become  of  Charley.  They  found 
him  at  the  foot  of  a  water-fall  of  about  four  feet 
in  height  over  which  he  had  been  carried.  The 
fall  was  formed  by  a  long  ledge  of  rock  run- 
ning completely  across  the  river;  and  had  the 
boys  been  more  careful,  and  had  the  wind  been 
blowing  in  any  other  direction  than  directly 


102    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

down  the  river,  they  would  have  heard  the  sound 
of  the  falling  water  in  time  to  be  warned  of  the 
danger  into  which  Charley  had  carelessly  run. 

His  canoe  had  sustained  little  damage,  for 
it  had  luckily  fallen  where  the  water  was  deep 
enough  to  keep  it  from  striking  the  rocky  bot- 
tom. Charley  had  been  thrown  out  as  the  canoe 
went  over  the  fall,  but  had  merely  bruised  him- 
self a  little.  He  towed  his  canoe  ashore,  and 
in  answer  to  a  mischievous  question  from  Joe 
admitted  that  perhaps  the  men  who  had  said  that 
the  Chambly  rapids  were  impassable  were  right. 

Below  the  fall  and  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  stretched  a  fierce  and  shallow  rapid.  The 
water  boiled  over  and  among  the  rocks  with 
which  it  was  strewn,  and  there  could  not  be  any 
doubt  that  the  rapid  was  one  which  could  not 
be  successfully  run,  unless,  perhaps,  by  some 
one  perfectly  familiar  with  the  channel.  It 
was  agreed  that  the  canoes  must  be  carried  up 
to  the  canal,  and  after  two  hours  of  hard  work 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  103 

the  fleet  was  launched  a  short  distance  above 
one  of  the  canal  locks. 

The  lock-man  did  not  seem  disposed  to  let  the 
canoes  pass  through  the  lock,  but  finally  accepted 
fifty  cents,  and,  grumbling  to  himself  in  his 
Canadian  French,  proceeded  to  lock  the  canoes 
through.  He  paid  no  attention  to  the  request 
that  he  would  open  the  sluices  gradually,  but 
opened  them  all  at  once  and  to  their  fullest  ex- 
tent. The  result  was  that  the  water  in  the  lock 
fell  with  great  rapidity;  the  canoes  were  swung 
against  one  another  and  against  the  side  of  the 
lock,  and  Charley's  canoe,  catching  against  a 
bolt  in  one  of  the  upper  gates,  was  capsized  and 
sunk  to  the  bottom,  leaving  her  captain  clinging 
to  the  stern  of  the  Sunshine. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

^""ir^HERE  is  no  place  more  unfit  for  a  sudden 
•*-  and  unexpected  bath  than  the  lock  of  a 
canal.  The  sides  and  the  gates  are  perpendicu- 
lar and  smooth,  and  present  nothing  to  which  a 
person  in  the  water  can  cling.  Charley  had  no 
difficulty  in  supporting  himself  by  throwing  one 
arm  over  the  stern  of  Harry's  canoe,  but  had  he 
been  alone  in  the  lock  he  would  have  been  in  a 
very  unpleasant  position. 

As  soon  as  the  gates  were  opened  the  boys 
paddled  out  of  the  lock,  and  went  ashore  to  de- 
vise a  plan  for  raising  the  sunken  canoe.  Of 
course  it  was  necessary  that  some  one  should 
dive  and  bring  up  the  painter,  so  that  the  canoe 
could  be  dragged  out  of  the  lock;  but,  as  canal 
boats  were  constantly  passing,  it  was  a  full  hour 

before  any  attempt  at  diving  could  be  made. 

104 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  105 

There  were  half  a  dozen  small  French  boys  play- 
ing near  the  lock,  and  Charley,  who  was  by  no 
means  anxious  to  do  any  unnecessary  diving, 
hired  them  to  get  the  canoe  ashore,  which  they 
managed  to  do  easily.  It  was  then  found  that 
nearly  everything  except  the  spars  had  floated 
out  of  her,  and  the  rest  of  the  morning  was  spent 
in  searching  for  the  missing  articles  in  the  muddy 
bottom  of  the  canal.  Most  of  them  were  re- 
covered, but  Charley's  spare  clothes,  which  were 
in  an  India-rubber  bag,  could  not  be  found. 

This  was  the  second  time  that  the  unfortunate 
Midnight  had  foundered,  and  Charley  was  thor- 
oughly convinced  of  the  necessity  of  providing 
some  means  of  keeping  her  afloat  in  case  of  cap- 
sizing. It  was  impossible  for  him  to  put  water- 
tight compartments  in  her,  such  as  the  Sunshine 
and  the  Dawn  possessed,  but  he  resolved  to  buy 
a  dozen  beef-bladders  at  the  next  town,  and  after 
blowing  them  up  to  pack  them  in  the  bow  and 
stern  of  his  canoe.  Tom,  whose  "Rice  Lake" 


106   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

canoe  was  also  without  water-tight  compart- 
ments, agreed  to  adopt  Charley's  plan,  and  thus 
avoid  running  the  risk  of  an  accident  that  might 
result  in  the  loss  of  the  canoe  and  cargo. 

When  the  fleet  finally  got  under  way  again 
there  was  a  nice  breeze  from  the  south,  which 
sent  the  canoes  along  at  the  rate  of  four  or  five 
miles  an  hour.  Chambly,  the  northern  end  of 
the  canal,  was  reached  before  four  o'clock,  the 
boys  having  lunched  on  bread-and-water  while 
in  the  canoes  in  order  not  to  lose  time  by  going 
ashore.  They  passed  safely  through  the  three 
great  locks  at  Chambly;  and  entering  the  little 
lake  formed  by  the  expansion  of  the  river,  and 
known  as  Chambly  Basin,  they  skirted  its  north- 
ern shore  until  they  reached  the  ruins  of  Cham- 
bly Castle. 

More  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  the 
Frenchmen  built  the  great  square  fort,  with 
round  towers  at  each  angle,  which  is  now  called 
Chambly  Castle.  At  that  time  the  only  direct 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  107 

way  of  communication  between  the  settlements 
on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  those  in  the  valleys  of 
the  Hudson  and  the  Mohawk  was  up  the  Riche- 
lieu River,  Lake  Champlain,  and  Lake  George. 
It  was  this  route  that  Burgoyne  followed  when 
he  began  the  campaign  that  ended  so  disastrously 
for  him  at  Saratoga,  and  it  was  at  Chambly 
Castle  that  he  formally  took  command  of  his 
army.  The  castle  was  placed  just  at  the  foot 
of  the  rapids,  on  a  broad,  level  space,  where 
Indians  used  to  assemble  in  large  numbers  to 
trade  with  the  French.  Its  high  stone  walls, 
while  they  could  easily  have  been  knocked  to 
pieces  by  cannon,  were  a  complete  protection 
against  the  arrows  and  rifles  of  the  savages,  and 
could  have  withstood  a  long  siege  by  any  Eng- 
lish force  not  provided  with  artillery.  In  the 
old  days  when  the  castle  was  garrisoned  by  gay 
young  French  officers,  and  parties  of  beautiful 
ladies  came  up  from  Montreal  to  attend  the 
officers'  balls,  and  the  gray  old  walls  echoed  to 


io8   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

music,  and  brilliant  lights  flashed  through  the 
windows,  the  Indians  encamped  outside  the  gates 
must  have  thought  it  the  most  magnificent  and 
brilliant  place  in  the  whole  world.  Now  there 
is  nothing  left  of  it  but  the  four  walls  and  the 
crumbling  towers.  The  iron  bolts  on  which 
the  great  castle  gate  once  swung  are  still  em- 
bedded in  the  stone,  but  nothing  else  remains 
inside  the  castle  except  grassy  mounds  and  the 
wild  vines  that  climb  wherever  they  can  find  an 
angle  or  a  stone  to  cling  to. 

The  canoeists  made  their  camp  where  the 
Indians  had  so  often  camped  before  them,  and 
after  supper  they  rambled  through  the  castle 
and  climbed  to  the  top  of  one  of  the  towers. 
They  had  never  heard  of  its  existence,  and  were 
as  surprised  as  they  were  delighted  to  find  so 
romantic  a  ruin. 

"I  haven't  the  least  doubt  that  the  place  is 
full  of  ghosts,"  said  Charley  as  the  boys  were 
getting  into  the  canoes  for  the  night. 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  109 

"Do  you  really  believe  in  ghosts?"  asked  Tom, 
in  his  matter-of-fact  way. 

"Why,"  replied  Charley,  "when  you  think  of 
what  must  have  happened  inside  of  that  old 
castle  and  outside  of  it  when  the  Indians  tor- 
tured their  prisoners,  there  can't  help  but  be 
ghosts  here." 

"I  don't  care,  provided  there  are  no  mos- 
quitoes," said  Joe.  "Ghosts  don't  bite,  and  don't 
sing  in  a  fellow's  ears." 

Any  one  who  has  camped  near  a  rapid  knows 
how  strangely  the  running  water  sounds  in  the 
stillness  of  the  night.  Joe,  who,  although  there 
were  no  mosquitoes  to  trouble  him,  could  not 
fall  asleep,  was  sure  that  he  heard  men's  voices 
talking  in  a  low  tone,  and  two  or  three  times 
raised  himself  up  in  his  canoe  to  see  if  there  were 
any  persons  in  sight.  He  became  convinced  after 
a  while  that  the  sounds  which  disturbed  him 
were  made  by  the  water,  but,  nevertheless,  they 
had  made  him  rather  nervous.  Though  he  had 


professed  not  to  be  afraid  of  ghosts,  he  did  not 
like  to  think  about  them,  but  he  could  not  keep 
them  out  of  his  mind.  Once,  when  he  looked 
out  of  his  canoe  toward  the  castle,  he  was  startled 
to  find  it  brilliantly  lighted  up.  The  light  was 
streaming  from  the  casemates,  loop-holes,  and 
windows,  and  it  was  some  moments  before  he 
comprehended  that  it  was  nothing  more  ghostly 
than  moonlight. 

Toward  midnight  Joe  fell  asleep,  but  he  slept 
uneasily.  He  woke  up  suddenly  to  find  a  dark 
object  with  two  fiery  eyes  seated  on  the  deck  of 
his  canoe  and  apparently  watching  him.  He 
sprang  up  with  a  cry  of  terror,  which  awakened 
his  comrades.  The  strange  object  rushed  away 
from  the  canoe,  and,  stopping  near  the  gate  of 
the  castle,  seemed  to  be  waiting  to  see  what  the 
boys  would  do. 

By  this  time  Joe  had  recovered  his  senses,  and 
knew  that  his  strange  visitor  was  a  wild  animal. 
The  boys  took  their  pistols.  Tom,  who  was  the 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  in 

best  shot,  fired  at  the  animal.  He  did  not  hit  it, 
but  as  Tom  advanced  slowly  toward  it  the  crea- 
ture went  into  the  castle. 

"It's  a  wild-cat,"  cried  Charley.  "I  saw  it  as 
it  crossed  that  patch  of  moonlight.  Come  on, 
boys,  and  we'll  have  a  hunt." 

With  their  pistols  ready  for  instant  service, 
the  canoeists  rushed  into  the  castle.  The  wild- 
cat was  seated  on  a  pile  of  stones  in  what  was 
once  the  courtyard,  and  did  not  show  any  signs 
of  fear.  Three  or  four  pistol-shots,  however,  in- 
duced it  to  spring  down  from  its  perch  and  run 
across  the  court-yard.  The  boys  followed  it 
eagerly,  plunging  into  a  thick  growth  of  tall 
weeds,  and  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  lungs. 
Suddenly  the  animal  vanished;  and  though  Tom 
fancied  that  he  saw  it  crouching  in  the  shadow 
of  the  wall  and  fired  at  it,  as  he  supposed,  he 
soon  found  that  he  was  firing  at  a  piece  of  old 
stove-pipe  that  had  probably  been  brought  to 
the  place  by  a  picnic  party. 


ii2    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

Giving  up  the  hunt  with  reluctance,  the  canoe- 
ists returned  to  their  canoes:  at  least,  three  of 
them  did,  but  Joe  was  not  with  them.  They 
called  to  him,  but  received  no  answer,  and  be- 
coming anxious  about  him,  went  back  to  the 
castle  and  shouted  his  name  loudly,  but  without 
success. 

"It's  very  strange,"  exclaimed  Charley.  "He 
was  close  behind  me  when  we  chased  the  wild- 
cat into  those  weeds." 

"Has  anybody  seen  him  since?"  asked  Harry. 

Nobody  had  seen  him. 

"Then,"  said  Harry,  "the  wild-cat  has  carried 
him  off,  or  killed  him." 

"Nonsense!"  exclaimed  Charley;  "a  wild-cat 
isn't  a  tiger,  and  couldn't  carry  off  a  small  baby. 
Joe  must  be  trying  to  play  a  trick  on  us." 

"Let's  go  back  and  pay  no  attention  to  him," 
suggested  Tom.  "I  don't  like  such  tricks." 

"There's  no  trick  about  it,"  said  Harry.  "Joe 
isn't  that  kind  of  fellow.  Something  has  hap- 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  113 

pened  to  him,  and  we've  got  to  look  for  him  till 
we  find  him." 

"Harry's  right,"  said  Charley.  "Go  and  get 
the  lantern  out  of  my  canoe,  won't  you,  Tom? 
I've  got  matches  in  my  pocket." 

When  the  lantern  was  lit  a  careful  search  was 
made  all  over  the  court-yard.  Harry  was  greatly 
frightened,  for  he  was  afraid  that  Joe  might  have 
been  accidentally  shot  while  the  boys  were  shoot- 
ing at  the  wild-cat,  and  he  remembered  that  in 
his  excitement  he  had  fired  his  pistol  in  a  very 
reckless  way.  It  was  horrible  to  think  that  he 
might  have  shot  poor  Joe;  worse,  even,  than 
thinking  that  the  wild-cat  might  have  seized 
him. 

The  court-yard  had  been  thoroughly  searched 
without  finding  the  least  trace  of  Joe,  and  the 
boys  were  becoming  more  and  more  alarmed, 
when  Charley,  whose  ears  were  particularly 
sharp,  cried,  "Hush!  I  hear  something."  They 
all  listened  intently,  and  heard  a  voice  faintly 


•ii4   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

calling  "Help!"  They  knew  at  once  that  it 
was  Joe's  voice,  but  they  could  not  imagine 
where  he  was.  They  shouted  in  reply  to  him, 
and  Charley,  seizing  the  lantern,  carefully 
pushed  aside  the  tall  weeds  and  presently  found 
himself  at  the  mouth  of  a  well. 

"Are  you  there,  Joe?"  he  cried,  lying  down 
on  the  ground,  with  his  head  over  the  mouth  of 
the  well. 

"I  believe  I  am,"  replied  Joe.  "I'm  ready  to 
come  out,  though,  if  you  fellows  will  help  me." 

The  boys  gave  a  great  shout  of  triumph. 

"Are  you  hurt?"  asked  Charley,  eagerly. 

"I  don't  think  I  am;  but  I  think  somebody 
will  be  if  I  have  to  stay  here  much  longer." 

It  was  evident  that  Joe  was  not  seriously  hurt, 
although  he  had  fallen  into  the  well  while  rush- 
ing recklessly  after  the  wild-cat.  Tom  and 
Harry  ran  to  the  canoes  and  returned  with  all 
four  of  the  canoe-painters.  Tying  one  of  them 
to  the  lantern,  Charley  lowered  it  down,  and  was 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  115 

able  to  get  a  glimpse  of  Joe.  The  well  was  about 
twenty  feet  deep,  and  perfectly  dry,  and  Joe 
was  standing,  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  lean- 
ing against  the  side  of  the  well,  and  apparently 
entirely  unhurt,  in  spite  of  his  fall. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

TT  was  an  easy  matter  to  help  Joe  out  of  the 

•*•  old  well.  He  had  fallen  into  it  while  run- 
ning after  the  wild-cat,  but  a  heap  of  decayed 
leaves  at  the  bottom  broke  the  fall  and  saved 
him  from  any  serious  injury.  Nevertheless,  he 
must  have  been  a  little  stunned  at  first,  for  he 
made  no  outcry  for  some  time,  and  it  was  his 
first  call  for  help  that  was  heard  by  Charley. 
The  boys  returned  to  their  canoes,  and,  as  it 
was  not  yet  midnight,  prepared  to  resume  the 
sleep  from  which  they  had  been  so  unceremo- 
niously awakened.  They  had  little  fear  that  the 
wild-cat  would  pay  them  another  visit,  'for  it 
had  undoubtedly  been  badly  frightened.  Still, 
it  was  not  pleasant  to  think  that  there  was  a 
wild  beast  within  a  few  rods  of  them,  and  the 
thought  kept  the  canoeists  awake  for  a  long  time. 

116 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  117 

The  wild-cat  did  not  pay  them  a  second  visit, 
and  when  they  awoke  the  next  morning  they 
were  half  inclined  to  think  that  their  night's 
adventure  had  been  only  a  dream.  There,  how- 
ever, were  the  marks  made  by  its  claws  on  the 
varnished  deck  of  Joe's  canoe,  and  Joe's  cloth- 
ing was  torn  and  stained  by  his  fall.  With  the 
daylight  they  became  very  courageous,  and  de- 
cided that  they  had  never  been  in  the  least  afraid 
of  the  animal.  The  so-called  wild-cat  of 
Canada,  which  is  really  a  lynx,  is,  however,  a 
fierce  and  vicious  animal,  and  is  sometimes  more 
than  a  match  for  an  unarmed  man. 

There  was  a  strong  west  wind  blowing  when 
the  fleet  started,  and  Chambly  Basin  was  cov- 
ered with  white-caps.  As  the  canoes  were  sail- 
ing in  the  trough  of  the  sea  they  took  in  con- 
siderable water  while  skirting  the  east  shore 
of  the  Basin,  but  once  in  the  narrow  river  they 
found  the  water  perfectly  smooth.  This  day  the 
fleet  made  better  progress  than  on  any  previous 


n8   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

day.  Nothing  could  be  more  delightful  than 
the  scenery,  and  the  quaint  little  French  towns 
along  the  river,  every  one  of  which  was  named 
after  some  saint,  were  very  interesting.  The 
boys  landed  at  one  of  them  and  got  their  dinner 
at  a  little  tavern  where  no  one  spoke  English, 
and  where  Charley,  who  had  studied  French 
at  Annapolis,  won  the  admiration  of  his  com- 
rades by  the  success  with  which  he  ordered  the 
dinner. 

With  the  exception  of  the  hour  spent  at  din- 
ner, the  canoeists  sailed,  from  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning  until  seven  at  night,  at  the  rate  of 
nearly  six  miles  an  hour.  The  clocks  of  Sorel, 
the  town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Richelieu,  were 
striking  six  as  the  canoes  glided  into  the  broad 
St.  Lawrence  and  steered  for  a  group  of  islands 
distant  about  a  mile  from  the  south  shore.  It 
was  while  crossing  the  St.  Lawrence  that  they 
first  made  the  acquaintance  of  screw-steamers, 
and  learned  how  dangerous  they  are  to  the  care- 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  119 

less  canoeist.  A  big  steamship,  on  her  way  to 
Montreal,  came  up  the  river  so  noiselessly  that 
the  boys  did  not  notice  her  until  they  heard  her 
hoarse  whistle  warning  them  to  keep  out  of  her 
way.  A  paddle-wheel  steamer  can  be  heard 
while  she  is  a  long  way  off,  but  screw-steamers 
glide  along  so  stealthily  that  the  English  canoe- 
ists, who  constantly  meet  them  on  the  Mersey, 
the  Clyde,  and  the  lower  Thames,  have  nick- 
named them  "sudden  death." 

Cramped  and  tired  were  the  canoeists  when 
they  reached  the  nearest  island  and  went  ashore 
to  prepare  a  camp,  but  they  were  proud  of  hav- 
ing sailed  sixty  miles  in  one  day.  As  they  sat 
around  the  fire  after  supper  Harry  said,  "Boys, 
we've  had  experience  enough  by  this  time  to 
test  our  different  rigs.  Let's  talk  about  them 
a  little." 

"All  right,"  said  Joe.  "I  want  it  understood, 
however,  that  my  lateen  is  by  all  odds  the  best 
rig  in  the  fleet." 


iio   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

"Charley,"  remarked  Tom,  "you  said  the 
other  day  that  you  liked  Joe's  rig  better  than 
any  other.  Do  you  think  so  still?" 

"Of  course  I  do,"  answered  Charley.  "Joe's 
sails  set  flatter  than  any  lug-sail ;  he  can  set  them 
and  take  them  in  quicker  than  we  can  handle 
ours,  and  as  they  are  triangular  he  has  the 
most  of  his  canvas  at  the  foot  of  the  sail  instead 
of  at  the  head.  But  they're  going  to  spill  him 
before  the  cruise  is  over,  or  I'm  mistaken." 

"In  what  way?"  asked  Joe. 

"You  are  going  to  get  yourself  into  a  scrape 
some  day  by  trying  to  take  in  your  sail  when 
you  are  running  before  a  stiff  breeze.  If  you 
try  to  get  the  sail  down  without  coming  up  into 
the  wind  it  will  get  overboard,  and  either  you 
will  lose  it  or  it  will  capsize  you;  you  tried  it 
yesterday  when  a  squall  came  up,  and  you  very 
nearly  came  to  grief." 

"But  you  can  say  the  same  about  any  other 
rig,"  exclaimed  Joe. 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  121 

"Of  course  you  can't  very  well  get  any  sail 
down  while  the  wind  is  in  it;  but  Tom  can  take 
in  his  sharpie-sail  without  much  danger  even 
when  he's  running  directly  before  the  wind,  and 
Harry  and  I  can  let  go  our  halyards  and  get  our 
lugs  down  after  a  fashion,  if  it  is  necessary. 
Still,  your  lateen  is  the  best  cruising  rig  I've 
ever  seen,  though  for  racing  Harry's  big,  square- 
headed  balance-lug  is  better." 

"You  may  say  what  you  will,"  said  Tom,  "but 
give  me  my  sharpie-sails.  They  set  as  flat  as  a 
board,  and  I  can  handle  them  easily  enough  to 
suit  me." 

"The  trouble  with  your  rig,"  said  Charley, 
"is  that  you  have  a  mast  nearly  fifteen  feet  high. 
Now,  when  Joe  takes  in  his  main-sail  he  has 
only  two  feet  of  mast  left  standing." 

"How  do  you  like  your  own  rig?"  asked 
Harry. 

"Oh,  it  is  good  enough.    I'm  not  sure  that  it 


122   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

isn't  better  than  either  yours  or  Tom's;  but  it 
certainly  isn't  as  handy  as  Joe's  lateen." 

"Now  that  you've  settled  that  I've  the  best 
rig,"  said  Joe,  "you'd  better  admit  that  I've  the 
best  canoe,  and  then  turn  in  for  the  night.  After 
the  work  we've  done  to-day,  and  the  fun  we  had 
last  night,  I'm  sleepy." 

"Do  you  call  sitting  still  in  a  canoe  hard 
work?"  inquired  Tom. 

"Is  'falling  down  a  well  your  idea  of  fun?" 
asked  Harry. 

"It's  too  soon,"  said  Charley  ?  "to  decide  who 
has  the  best  canoe.  We'll  find  that  out  by  the 
time  the  cruise  is  over." 

The  island  where  the  boys  camped  during 
their  first  night  on  the  St.  Lawrence  was  situ- 
ated at  the  head  of  Lake  St.  Peter.  This  lake 
is  simply  an  expansion  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
though  it  is  thirty  miles  long  and  about  ten  miles 
wide  at  its  widest  part,  it  is  so  shallow  that 
steamboats  can  only  pass  through  it  by  follow- 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  123 

ing  an  artificial  channel  dredged  out  by  the  gov- 
ernment at  a  vast  expense.  Its  shores  are  lined 
with  a  thick  growth  of  reeds,  which  extend  in 
many  places  fully  a  mile  into  the  lake,  and  are 
absolutely  impassable,  except  where  streams 
flowing  into  the  lake  have  kept  channels  open 
through  the  reeds. 

On  leaving  the  island  in  the  morning  the 
canoeists  paddled  down  the  lake,  for  there  was 
not  a  breath  of  wind.  The  sun  was  intensely 
hot,  and  the  heat  reflected  from  the  surface  of 
the  water  and  the  varnished  decks  of  the  canoes 
assisted  in  making  the  boys  feel  as  if  they  were 
roasting  before  a  fire.  Toward  noon  the  heat 
became  really  intolerable,  and  the  Commodore 
gave  the  order  to  paddle  over  to  the  north  shore 
in  search  of  shade. 

It  was  disappointing  to  find  instead  of  a  shady 
shore  an  impenetrable  barrier  of  reeds.  After 
resting  a  little  while  in  the  canoes,  the  boys 
started  to  skirt  the  reeds,  in  hope  o'f  finding  an 


i24   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

opening;  and  the  sun,  apparently  taking  pity 
on  them,  went  under  a  cloud,  so  that  they  pad- 
dled a  mile  or  two  in  comparative  comfort. 

The  friendly  cloud  was  followed  before  long 
by  a  mass  of  thick  black  clouds  coming  up  from 
the  south.  Soon  the  thunder  was  heard  in  the 
distance,  and  it  dawned  upon  the  tired  boys  that 
they  were  about  to  have  a  thunder-storm,  with- 
out any  opportunity  of  obtaining  shelter. 

They  paddled  steadily  on,  looking  in  vain  for 
a  path  through  the  reeds,  and  making  up  their 
minds  to  a  good  wetting.  They  found,  however, 
that  the  rain  did  not  come  alone.  With  it  came 
a  fierce  gust  of  wind,  which  quickly  raised  white- 
caps  on  the  lake.  Instead  of  dying  out  as  soon 
as  the  rain  fell  the  wind  blew  harder  and  harder, 
and  in  the  course  of  half  an  hour  there  was  a 
heavy  sea  running. 

The  wind  and  sea  coming  from  the  south, 
while  the  canoes  were  steering  east,  placed  the 
boys  in  a  very  dangerous  position.  The  seas 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  125 

struck  the  canoes  on  the  side  and  broke  over 
them,  and  in  spite  of  the  aprons,  which  to  some 
extent  protected  the  cockpits  of  all  except  the 
Twilight,  the  water  found  its  way  below.  It 
was  soon  no  longer  possible  to  continue  in  the 
trough  o'f  the  sea,  and  the  canoes  were  compelled 
to  turn  their  bows  to  the  wind  and  sea — the  boys 
paddling  just  sufficiently  to  keep  themselves 
from  drifting  back  into  the  reeds. 

The  Sunshine  and  the  Midnight  behaved  ad- 
mirably, taking  very  little  water  over  their 
decks.  The  Twilight  "slapped"  heavily,  and 
threw  showers  of  spray  over  herself,  while  the 
Dawn  showed  a  tendency  to  dive  bodily  into  the 
seas,  and  several  times  the  whole  of  her  forward 
of  the  cockpit  was  under  the  water. 

"What  had  we  better  do?"  asked  Harry,  who, 
although  Commodore,  had  the  good-sense  al- 
ways to  consult  Charley  in  matters  of  seaman- 
ship. 

"It's  going  to  blow  hard,  and  we  can't  sit  here 


126   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

and  paddle  against  it  all  day  without  getting 
exhausted." 

"But  how  are  we  going  to  help  ourselves?" 
continued  Harry. 

"Your  canoe  and  mine,"  replied  Charley, 
"can  live  out  the  gale  well  enough  under  sail. 
If  we  set  our  main-sails  close-reefed,  and  keep 
the  canoes  close  to  the  wind,  we  shall  be  all 
right.  It's  the  two  other  canoes  that  I'm 
troubled  about." 

"My  canoe  suits  me  well  enough,"  said  Joe, 
"so  long  as  she  keeps  on  the  top  of  the  water, 
but  she  seems  to  have  made  up  her  mind  to  dive 
under  it." 

"Mine  would  be  all  right  if  I  could  stop  pad- 
dling long  enough  to  bail  her  out,  but  I  can't," 
remarked  Tom.  "She's  nearly  half  full  of 
water  now." 

"We  can't  leave  the  other  "fellows,"  said 
Harry,  "so  what's  the  use  of  our  talking  about 
getting  sail  on  our  canoes?" 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  127 

"It's  just  possible  that  Tom's  canoe  would 
live  under  sail,"  resumed  Charley;  "but  it's  cer- 
tain that  Joe's  won't.  What  do  you  think  about 
those  reeds,  Tom — can  you  get  your  canoe  into 
them?" 

"Of  course  I  can,  and  that's  what  we'd  better 
all  do,"  exclaimed  Tom.  "The  reeds  will  break 
the  force  of  the  seas,  and  we  can  stay  among 
them  till  the  wind  goes  down." 

"Suppose  you  try  it,"  suggested  Charley,  "and 
let  us  see  how  far  you  can  get  into  the  reeds? 
I  think  they're  going  to  help  us  out  of  a  very 
bad  scrape." 

Tom  did  not  dare  to  turn  his  canoe  around, 
so  he  backed  water  and  went  at  the  reeds  stern- 
first.  They  parted  readily,  and  his  canoe  pene- 
trated without  much  difficulty  some  half-dozen 
yards  into  the  reeds  where  the  water  was  almost 
quiet.  Unfortunately,  he  shipped  one  heavy  sea 
just  as  he  entered  the  reeds,  which  filled  his 
canoe  so  full  that  another  such  sea  would  cer- 


128   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

tainly  have  sunk  her,  had  she  not  been  provided 
with  the  bladders  bought  at  Chambly. 

Joe  followed  Tom's  example,  but  the  Dawn 
perversely  stuck  in  the  reeds  just  as  she  was 
entering  them,  and  sea  after  sea  broke  over  her 
before  Joe  could  drive  her  far  enough  into  the 
reeds  to  be  protected  by  them. 

Joe  and  Tom  were  now  perfectly  safe,  though 
miserably  wet;  but,  as  the  rain  had  ceased,  there 
was  nothing  to  prevent  them  from  getting  dry 
clothes  out  of  their  water-proof  bags,  and  put- 
ting them  on  as  soon  as  they  could  bail  the  water 
out  o'f  their  canoes.  Harry  and  Charley,  seeing 
their  comrades  in  safety,  made  haste  to  get  up 
sail  and  to  stand  out  into  the  lake — partly  be- 
cause they  did  not  want  to  run  the  risk  of  being 
swamped  when  entering  the  reeds,  and  partly 
because  they  wanted  the  excitement  of  sailing  in 
a  gale  of  wind. 

When    the    masts    were    stepped,    the    sails 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  129 

hoisted,  and  the  sheets  trimmed,  the  two  canoes, 
sailing  close  to  the  wind,  began  to  creep  away 
from  the  reeds.  They  behaved  wonderfully 
well.  The  boys  had  to  watch  them  closely,  and 
to  lean  out  to  windward  from  time  to  time  to 
hold  them  right  side  up.  The  rudders  were  oc- 
casionally thrown  out  of  the  water,  but  the  boys 
took  the  precaution  to  steer  with  their  paddles. 
The  excitement  of  sailing  was  so  great,  that 
Charley  and  Harry  forgot  all  about  the  time, 
and  sailed  on  for  hours.  Suddenly  they  dis- 
covered that  it  was  three  o'clock,  that  they  had 
had  no  lunch,  and  that  the  two  canoeists  who  had 
sought  refuge  in  the  reeds  had  absolutely  noth- 
ing to  eat  with  them.  Filled  with  pity,  they 
resolved  to  return  to  them  without  a  moment's 
delay.  It  was  then  that  it  occurred  to  them  that 
in  order  to  sail  back  they  must  turn  their  canoes 
around,  bringing  them  while  so  doing  in  the 
trough  of  the  sea.  Could  they  possibly  do  this 


130   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

without  being  swamped?  The  question  was  a 
serious  one,  for  they  were  fully  four  miles  from 
the  shore,  and  the  wind  and  sea  were  as  high  as 
ever. 


CHAPTER  X. 

/CHARLEY  and  Harry  took  in  their  sails, 
^-^  keeping  the  canoes  head  to  sea  with  an  oc- 
casional stroke  of  the  paddle.  When  all  was 
made  snug,  and  the  moment  for  turning  the 
canoes  had  arrived,  they  realized  that  they  were 
about  to  attempt  the  most  hazardous  'feat  of  the 
whole  cruise. 

"Can  we  do  it?"  asked  Harry,  doubtfully. 

"We've  got  to  do  it,"  replied  Charley. 

"Why  can't  we  unship  our  rudders  and  back 
water  till  we  get  to  the  reeds?" 

"It  might  be  possible,  but  the  chances  are 
that  we  would  be  swamped.  The  seas  would 
overtake  us,  and  we  couldn't  keep  out  of  the 
way  of  them.  No,  we've  got  to  turn  around  and 
sail  back  in  the  regular  way." 

"You  know  best,  of  course,"  said  Harry;  "but 


132    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

what's  the  use  of  taking  in  our  sails  before  we 
turn  around?  We'll  have  trouble  in  setting 
them  again  with  the  wind  astern." 

"We  can  turn  the  canoes  quicker  without 
sails  than  we  could  with  the  sails  set,  and  every 
second  that  we  can  gain  is  worth  something. 
Besides,  if  we  are  capsized  it  will  be  an  advan- 
tage to  have  the  sails  furled.  But  we're  wasting 
time.  Let  your  canoe  get  right  astern  of  mine, 
so  that  mine  will  keep  a  little  of  the  sea  off  of 
you;  then  watch  for  two  or  three  bigs  seas  and 
turn  your  canoe  when  they  have  passed." 

Harry  followed  his  friend's  instructions,  and 
succeeded  in  turning  his  canoe  without  accident. 
Then  Charley,  getting  into  the  lee  of  the  Sun- 
shine, did  his  best  to  imitate  Harry's  successful 
feat.  He  managed  to  turn  the  canoe,  but  while 
in  the  act  a  heavy  sea  rolled  into  the  cockpit  and 
filled  the  Midnight  absolutely  full.  The  beef- 
bladders,  however,  kept  the  canoe  afloat,  but  she 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  133 

lay  like  a  log  on  the  water,  and  every  successive 
wave  swept  over  her. 

Charley  did  not  lose  his  presence  of  mind. 
He  shouted  to  Harry  to  run  up  his  sail  and  keep 
his  canoe  out  of  the  way  of  the  seas,  and  then 
he  busied  himself  shaking  out  the  reef  of  his 
main-sail,  so  that  he  could  set  the  whole  sail. 
The  moment  the  canoe  felt  the  strain  of  her 
canvas  she  began  to  rush  through  the  water  in 
spite  of  her  great  weight,  and  no  more  seas  came 
aboard  her.  Steering  with  one  hand,  Charley 
bailed  with  his  hat  with  such  energy  that  he 
soon  freed  the  canoe  of  water.  Meanwhile  he 
rapidly  overtook  Harry,  and  reached  the  reeds, 
while  the  Sunshine  was  a  quarter  of  a  mile  be- 
hind him. 

Tom  and  Joe  were  found  sitting  in  their 
canoes  and  suffering  the  pangs  of  hunger. 
Charley  put  on  dry  clothes,  while  Harry  pre- 
pared a  lunch  of  dried  beef  and  crackers,  a'fter 
which  the  canoeists  resigned  themselves  as 


134    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

cheerfully  as  they  could  to  spending  the  rest 
of  the  afternoon  and  the  night  in  the  reeds.  It 
was  not  a  pleasant  place,  but  the  wind  kept  the 
mosquitoes  away,  and  the  boys  managed  to  fall 
asleep  soon  after  sunset.  The  wind  died  out 
during  the  night,  and  the  boys  found,  the  next 
morning,  that  only  a  few  rods  below  the  place 
where  they  had  spent  the  night  there  was  an 
open  channel  by  which  they  could  easily  have 
reached  the  shore.  This  was  rather  aggravat- 
ing, and  it  increased  the  disgust  with  which  they 
remembered  Lake  St.  Peter  and  its  reed-lined 
shores. 

The  voyage  down  the  St.  Lawrence  seemed 
monotonous  after  the  excitement  of  running  the 
Magog  rapids,  and  the  various  adventures  of  the 
sail  down  the  Richelieu.  The  St.  Lawrence 
has  very  little  shade  along  its  banks,  for,  owing 
to  the  direction  in  which  it  runs,  the  sun  shines 
on  the  water  all  day  long.  The  weather  was  ex- 
ceedingly hot  while  the  boys  were  on  the  river, 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  135 

and  on  the  third  day  after  leaving  Lake  St.  Peter 
they  suffered  so  greatly  that  they  were  afraid 
to  stay  on  the  water  lest  they  should  be  sunstruck. 
Going  ashore  on  the  low  sandy  bank,  they  were 
unable  to  find  a  single  tree  or  even  a  hillock 
large  enough  to  afford  any  shade.  They  thought 
of  drawing  the  canoes  ashore  and  sitting  in  the 
shade  of  them,  but  there  was  not  a  breath  of 
air  stirring,  and  the  very  ground  was  so  hot  that 
it  almost  scorched  their  'feet.  Half  a  mile  away 
on  a  meadow  they  saw  a  tree,  but  it  was  far  too 
hot  to  think  of  walking  that  distance.  They  de- 
cided at  last  to  get  into  their  canoes  and  to  pad- 
dle a  few  rods  farther  to  a  place  where  a  small 
stream  joined  the  river,  and  where  they  hoped 
to  find  the  water  somewhat  cooler  for  bathing. 
On  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  little  stream 
the  bows  of  the  canoes  were  run  ashore,  so  that 
they  would  not  float  away,  and  the  boys,  hastily 
undressing,  sprung  into  the  water.  They  had 
a  delightful  bath,  and  it  was  not  until  they  began 


136    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

to  feel  chilly  that  they  thought  of  coming  out 
and  dressing.  Tom  was  the  first  to  go  ashore, 
and  as  he  was  wading  out  of  the  water  he  sud- 
denly felt  himself  sinking  in  the  sand.  Harry 
and  Joe  attempted  to  land  a  few  yards  from  the 
place  where  Tom  was  trying  to  drag  his  feet  out 
of  the  clinging  sand,  and  they  too  found  them- 
selves in  the  same  difficulty.  Harry  at  once 
perceived  what  was  the  matter,  and,  making 
'frantic  efforts  to  get  to  the  shore,  cried  out  to 
his  comrades  that  they  were  caught  in  a  quick- 
sand. 

The  struggles  made  by  the  three  boys  were  all 
in  vain.  When  they  tried  to  lift  one  foot  out  of 
the  sand  the  other  foot  would  sink  still  deeper. 
It  was  impossible  for  them  to  throw  themselves 
at  full  length  on  the  quicksand,  for  there  were 
nearly  two  feet  of  water  over  it,  and  they  were 
not  close  enough  together  to  give  one  another 
any  assistance.  By  the  time  Charley  fully  un- 
derstood the  peril  they  were  in,  Tom  had  sunk 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  137 

above  his  knees  in  the  sand,  and  Joe  and  Harry, 
finding  that  they  could  not  extricate  themselves, 
were  waiting,  with  white  faces  and  trembling 
lips,  for  Charley  to  come  to  their  help. 

Charley  knew  perfectly  well  that  if  he  ven- 
tured too  near  the  other  boys  he  would  himself 
be  caught  in  the  quicksand,  and  there  would  be 
no  hope  that  any  of  them  could  escape.  Keep- 
ing his  presence  of  mind,  he  swum  to  the  stern 
of  one  o'f  the  canoes,  set  it  afloat,  and  pushed  it 
toward  Tom  so  that  the  latter  could  get  hold  of 
its  bow.  He  then  brought  two  other  canoes  to 
the  help  of  Joe  and  Harry,  and  when  each  of 
the  three  unfortunate  canoeists  was  thus  fur- 
nished with  something  to  cling  to  he  climbed 
into  his  own  canoe. 

"What  are  we  to  do  now?"  asked  Harry. 

"Just  hold  on  to  your  canoes  till  I  can  tow 
them  out  into  the  stream.  You  can't  sink  while 
you  hang  on  to  them." 

"Won't  the  canoes  sink  with  us?"  asked  Tom. 


138    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

"Not  a  bit  of  it.  You  wouldn't  sink  your- 
selves if  you  could  lie  down  flat  on  the  quick- 
sand. I  was  caught  in  a  quicksand  once,  and 
that's  the  way  I  saved  myself." 

"I  hope  it's  all  right,"  exclaimed  Joe;  "but  it 
seems  to  me  that  you'll  have  to  get  a  derrick  to 
hoist  me  out.  But  I'm  not  complaining.  I  can 
hang  on  to  my  canoe  all  day,  only  I  don't  want 
to  be  drowned  and  buried  both  at  the  same 
time." 

Charley,  meanwhile,  was  busily  making  his 
canoe  fast  to  Tom's  canoe  with  his  painter. 
When  this  was  done  he  paddled  away  from  the 
shore  with  all  his  might,  while  Tom  tried  to 
lift  himself  out  of  the  quicksand  by  throwing 
the  weight  of  his  body  on  the  canoe.  Slowly 
Tom  and  his  canoe  yielded  to  the  vigorous 
strokes  of  Charley's  paddle  and  were  towed  out 
into  deep  water.  By  the  same  means  Joe  and 
Harry  were  rescued,  and  then  the  entire  fleet 
— Charley  paddling,  and  the  others  swimming 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  139 

and  pushing  their  canoes — floated  a  short  dis- 
tance down  stream,  and  finally  landed  where  the 
sand  was  firm  and  hard. 

"What  should  we  have  done  if  you'd  got  into 
the  quicksand,  as  we  did?"  said  Harry  to  Char- 
ley, as  they  were  dressing. 

"By  this  time  we  should  all  have  disap- 
peared," replied  Charley. 

"I  shall  never  go  ashore  again  while  we're  on 
this  river  without  making  sure  that  I'm  not 
walking  into  a  quicksand,"  continued  Harry. 
"It  was  awful  to  find  myself  sinking  deeper  and 
deeper,  and  to  know  that  I  couldn't  help  my- 
self." 

"Very  likely  there  isn't  another  quicksand  the 
whole  length  of  the  St.  Lawrence,"  said  Char- 
ley. "However,  it's  well  enough  to  be  careful 
where  we  land.  I've  noticed  that  where  a  little 
stream  joins  a  big  one  the  bottom  is  likely  to  be 
soft;  but  after  all  a  regular  dangerous  quicksand 
isn't  often  met.  I  never  saw  but  one  before." 


i4o    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

"Tell  us  about  it,"  suggested  Joe. 

"No;  we've  talked  enough  about  quicksands, 
and  the  subject  isn't  a  cheerful  one.  Do  you 
see  that  pile  of  boards?  Let's  make  a  board 
shanty,  and  go  to  sleep  in  it  after  we've  had 
some  lunch.  It  will  be  too  hot  to  paddle  before 
the  end  of  the  afternoon." 

A  shanty  was  easily  made  by  leaning  a  dozen 
planks  against  the  top  of  the  pile  of  boards,  and 
after  a  comfortable  lunch  the  boys  took  a  long 
nap.  When  they  awoke  they  were  disgusted  to 
find  that  their  canoes  were  high  and  dry  two 
rods  'from  the  edge  of  the  water.  They  had 
reached  a  part  of  the  river  where  the  tide  was 
felt,  and  without  knowing  it  they  had  gone 
ashore  at  high  tide.  They  had  to  carry  the  ca- 
noes, with  all  their  contents,  down  to  the  water, 
and  as  the  receding  tide  had  left  a  muddy  and 
slippery  surface  to  walk  over  the  task  was  not  a 
pleasant  one.  They  congratulated  themselves 
that  they  had  not  gone  ashore  at  low  tide,  in 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  141 

which  case  the  rising  of  the  water  during  the 
night  would  have  carried  away  the  canoes. 

Sailing  down  the  river  with  a  gentle  breeze, 
and  with  the  help  of  the  ebbing  tide,  the  canoe- 
ists came  to  the  mouth  of  a  small  river  which 
entered  the  St.  Lawrence  from  the  north.  They 
knew  by  means  of  the  map  that  the  small  river 
was  the  Jacques  Cartier.  It  was  a  swift,  shal- 
low, and  noisy  stream,  flowing  between  high, 
precipitous  banks,  and  spanned  by  a  lofty  and 
picturesque  bridge.  Taking  in  their  sails,  the 
boys  entered  the  Jacques  Cartier,  picking  their 
way  carefully  among  the  rocks,  and  making 
headway  very  slowly  against  the  rapid  current. 
They  stopped  under  the  bridge,  just  above 
which  there  was  an  impassable  rapid,  and  went 
ashore  for  lunch. 

Near  by  there  was  a  saw-mill,  and  from  one 
of  the  workmen  who  came  to  look  at  the  canoes 
the  boys  heard  wonderful  reports  of  the  fish  to 
be  caught  in  the  stream.  It  was  full  of  salmon 


142    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

— so  the  man  said — and  about  nine  miles  from 
its  mouth  there  was  a  pool  where  the  trout  actu- 
ally clamored  to  be  caught.  The  enthusiasm  of 
the  canoeists  was  kindled;  and  they  resolved  to 
make  a  camp  on  the  bank  of  the  stream,  and  to 
spend  a  few  days  in  fishing. 

After  having  thus  excited  his  young  hearers 
the  workman  cruelly  told  them  that  the  right 
to  fish  for  salmon  was  owned  by  a  man  living 
in  Montreal,  and  that  any  one  catching  a  salmon 
without  permission  would  be  heavily  fined. 
The  trout,  however,  belonged  to  nobody,  and 
the  boys,  though  greatly  disappointed  about  the 
salmon,  would  not  give  up  their  plan  of  trout- 
fishing.  They  hired  two  carts  from  a  farmer 
living  a  short  distance  from  the  river,  and,  plac- 
ing their  canoes  on  the  carts,  walked  beside  them 
over  a  wretchedly  rough  road  until  they  reached 
a  place  deep  in  the  woods,  where  a  little  stream, 
icy  cold,  joined  the  Jacques  Cartier.  Just  be- 
fore entering  the  latter  the  little  stream  formed 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  143 

a  quiet  pool,  in  which  the  trout  could  be  seen 
jumping.  The  point  of  land  between  the  trout- 
stream  and  the  river  was  covered  with  a  carpet 
of  soft  grass,  and  on  this  the  canoes  were  placed 
and  made  ready  to  be  slept  in. 

The  workman  at  the  mouth  of  the  Jacques 
Cartier  had  not  exaggerated  the  number  of  trout 
in  the  pool.  It  was  alive  with  fish.  The  boys 
were  charmed  with  the  beauty  of  their  camping- 
ground  and  the  luxury  o'f  their  table.  It  was 
rather  tiresome  to  walk  two  miles  every  day  to 
the  nearest  farm-house  for  milk,  but  with  the 
milk  rice  griddle-cakes  were  made,  and  upon 
these  and  fresh-killed  trout  the  canoeists  feasted 
for  three  delightful  days. 

They  had  one  real  adventure  while  on  the 
Jacques  Cartier.  One  day,  when  they  returned 
to  their  camp  from  an  exploration  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  trout-stream,  they  found  a  bear  feast- 
ing upon  the  remains  of  their  breakfast  and  their 
bottle  of  maple-sirup,  which  he  had  upset  and 


144    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

broken.  The  animal  was  full-grown,  and 
looked  like  a  very  ugly  customer,  but  no  sooner 
did  he  see  the  boys  than  he  started  on  a  rapid 
run  for  the  woods.  By  the  time  the  boys  had 
found  their  pistols  and  were  ready  to  follow 
him  the  bear  had  disappeared,  and  though  they 
hunted  for  him  all  the  rest  of  the  day  they  could 
not  find  him.  Had  the  bear  taken  it  into  his 
head  to  hunt  the  boys  he  would  probably  have 
been  much  more  successful,  for  their  pistol- 
bullets  would  have  had  little  effect  upon  him, 
except  to  sharpen  his  appetite  for  tender  and 
wholesome  boys'-meat. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

TT  sometimes  blows  very  hard  on  the  St.  Law- 
A  rence.  It  blew  especially  hard  the  morning 
the  young  canoeists  returned  to  the  banks  of  the 
great  river  from  their  excursion  up  the  Jacques 
Cartier.  As  far  as  they  could  see  the  St.  Law- 
rence was  covered  with  white-caps.  The  wind 
blew  directly  up  the  river,  and  a  heavy  sea  was 
breaking  on  the  little  island  which  lay  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Jacques  Cartier.  Paddling 
against  such  a  wind  and  sea  would  have  been 
nearly  impossible,  and  the  boys  resolved  to  wait 
until  the  wind  should  go  down. 

The  day  was  a  long  one,  for  there  was  nothing 
to  do  but  to  watch  the  men  at  work  in  the  saw- 
mill, and  to  look  out  on  the  river  to  see  if  the 
wind  and  sea  had  gone  down.  It  continued  to 

blow  hard  all   day  and   all   night,   and  when 

145 


146    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

Harry  awoke  his  comrades  at  five  o'clock  the 
next  morning  it  was  blowing  as  hard  as  ever. 

Nobody  wanted  to  spend  another  day  at  the 
saw-mill.  Although  the  wind  was  blowing  up 
the  river  the  tide  was  ebbing,  and  would  help 
the  canoes  to  make  some  little  progress,  in  spite 
of  the  wind  and  sea.  So  after  a  hurried  break- 
fast the  fleet  got  under  way  at  six  o'clock  and 
gallantly  breasted  the  waves. 

The  boys  found  that  paddling  against  so  strong 
a  head-wind  was  harder  than  they  had  imagined 
that  it  could  be.  It  was  almost  impossible  to 
force  the  upper  blade  of  the  paddle  through  the 
air  when  trying  to  make  a  stroke,  and  it  was 
only  by  turning  the  two  paddle-blades  at  right 
angles  to  one  another,  so  that  the  upper  blade 
would  present  its  edge  to  the  wind,  that  this 
could  be  done.  The  seas  were  so  large  that  the 
two  canoes  which  were  leading  would  often  be 
entirely  invisible  to  the  other  canoes,  though  they 
were  but  a  few  yards  apart.  The  Twilight,  as 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  147 

was  her  habit  when  driven  against  head-seas, 
threw  spray  all  over  herself,  and  the  Dawn  ex- 
hibited her  old  vice  of  trying  to  dive  through  the 
seas.  The  other  canoes  were  dry  enough,  but 
they  presented  more  resistance  to  the  wind,  and 
hence  were  harder  to  paddle. 

Little  was  said  during  the  first  half-hour,  for 
everybody  was  working  too  hard  at  the  paddle 
to  have  any  breath  to  spare  for  talking;  but 
finally  Harry,  who  was  in  the  advance  with 
Charley,  slackened  his  stroke,  and,  hailing  Joe 
and  Tom,  asked  them  how  they  were  getting 
along. 

"Wet  as  usual,"  replied  Joe.  "The  water  is 
pretty  near  up  to  my  waist  in  the  canoe,  and  two 
waves  out  of  three  wash  right  over  her.  But 
I  don't  care;  I'll  paddle  as  long  as  anybody  else 
will." 

"My  canoe  will  float,  unless  the  bladders 
burst,"  said  Tom,  "but  I'll  have  to  stop  and  bail 


148    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

out  before  long,  or  she'll  be  so  heavy  that  I  can't 
stir  her." 

"Never  mind,"  cried  Joe.  "Look  at  the  splen- 
did time  we're  making.  We've  come  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  and  that  means  that  we're 
paddling  at  the  rate  of  half  a  mile  an  hour.  At 
this  rate  we'll  get  somewhere  in  the  course  of 
the  summer." 

"There  isn't  any  use  in  tiring  ourselves  out 
for  nothingj"_exclaimed  Harry.  "Boys!  we'll 
make  that  sand  spit  right  ahead  of  us,  and  wait 
there  till  the  wind  goes  down." 

"All  right,"  said  Joe.  "Only  it's  a  pity  to  go 
ashore  when  the  tide  is  helping  us  along  so  beau- 
tifully. That  is,  the  Commodore  said  it  would 
help  us,  and  of  course  he  is  right." 

"No  reflections  on  the  Commodore  will  be 
allowed,"  cried  Harry.  "Bail  out  your  canoes, 
you  two  fellows,  and  Charley  and  I  will  wait 
for  you." 

Joe  was  very  anxious  to  go  ashore  and  rest, 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB   149 

for  he  was  nearly  tired  out;  but  he  was  not  will- 
ing to  let  Harry  know  that  he  was  tired.  The 
two  boys  had  been  disputing  while  on  the 
Jacques  Cartier  as  to  their  respective  strength, 
and  Harry  had  boasted  that  he  could  endure 
twice  as  much  fatigue  as  Joe.  This  was  true 
enough,  for  Harry  was  older  and  much  more 
muscular,  but  Joe  was  determined  to  paddle  as 
long  as  he  could  swing  his  arms  rather  than 
to  admit  that  he  was  the  weaker. 

The  sandy  spit  where  Harry  proposed  to  rest 
was  half  a  mile  farther  on,  but  before  it  was 
reached  poor  Joe  managed  to  sprain  the  mus- 
cles of  his  left  wrist.  He  was  compelled  to  stop 
paddling  except  just  hard  enough  to  keep  the 
Dawn's  head  to  the  sea,  and  to  call  out  to  the 
Commodore  that  he  must  be  allowed  to  go 
ashore  at  once. 

Now,  the  north  shore  of  the  river,  near  which 
the  canoes  were  paddling,  was  a  rocky  preci- 
pice, rising  perpendicularly  directly  from  the 


150   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

water,  and  at  least  two  hundred  'feet  high.  To 
land  on  such  a  shore  was,  of  course,  impossible, 
and  the  sandy  spit  toward  which  the  fleet  was 
paddling  was  the  only  possible  landing-place 
within  sight,  unless  the  canoes  were  to  turn 
round  and  run  back  to  the  Jacques  Cartier. 

In  this  state  of  things  Harry,  after  consulting 
with  Charley  and  Tom,  resolved  to  tow  the 
Dawn.  Her  painter  was  made  fast  to  the  stern- 
post  of  the  Sunshine,  and  Harry,  bracing  his 
feet  and  setting  his  teeth  tight  together,  began 
the  task  of  forcing  two  heavy  canoes  through 
the  rough  water.  He  found  that  he  could  make 
progress  slowly,  but  Joe  could  not  steer  the 
Dawn  except  by  paddling,  and  as  he  was  able  to 
do  very  little  of  that  she  kept  yawing  about  in 
a  most  unpleasant  way,  which  greatly  added  to 
Harry's  labor. 

Suddenly,  Joe  had  a  happy  thought:  he  set 
his  "dandy"  and  hauled  the  sheet  taut,  so  that 
the  boom  was  parallel  with  the  keel.  The  effect 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  151 

of  this  was  that  whenever  the  canoe's  head  fell 
off  the  sail  filled  and  brought  her  up  again.  Joe 
was  relieved  of  the  task  of  steering,  and  Harry 
was  able  to  tow  the  Dawn  much  more  easily 
than  before. 

The  other  canoeists  followed  Joe's  example, 
and,  setting  their  "dandies,"  greatly  lessened 
their  labor.  The  canoes  kept  their  heads  to  the 
wind  of  their  own  accord,  and  everybody  won- 
dered why  so  obvious  a  method  o'f  fighting  a 
head-wind  had  not  sooner  been  thought  of. 

It  was  eight  o'clock  when  the  sandy  spit  was 
reached.  The  tide  had  been  ebbing  for  some 
hours,  and  the  sand  was  warm  and  dry,  except 
near  the  edge  of  the  water.  The  canoes  were 
hauled  some  distance  over  the  sand  to  a  spot 
where  there  was  a  clump  of  bushes,  and  where 
it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  would  be 
perfectly  safe  even  at  high  tide.  A  second 
breakfast  was  then  cooked  and  eaten,  after  which 


152   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

the  boys  set  out  to  explore  their  camping- 
ground. 

It  was  simply  a  low  sand-bank,  about  a  hun- 
dred feet  wide  at  widest  part,  and  running  out 
two  or  three  hundred  feet  into  the  river.  As 
has  been  said,  the  north  bank  of  the  river  was  a 
perpendicular  precipice,  but  now  that  the  tide 
was  out  there  was  a  path  at  the  foot  of  the  preci- 
pice by  means  of  which  any  one  could  walk 
from  the  sand-spit  to  a  ravine  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  away,  and  thus  reach  the  meadows  lying 
back  of  the  precipice.  This  path  was  covered 
with  water  at  high  tide ;  but,  as  it  was  sure  to  be 
passable  for  three  or  'four  hours,  Harry  and 
Tom  set  out  to  procure  provisions  for  the  day. 

The  fleet  was  wind-bound  all  that  day,  for 
neither  the  wind  nor  the  sea  showed  the  slightest 
intention  of  going  down.  Harry  and  Tom  re- 
turned after  an  hour's  absence,  with  bread,  but- 
ter, eggs,  milk,  and  strawberries,  and  with  the 
cheerful  information  that,  in  the  opinion  of  a 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  155 

gloomy  farmer,  the  wind  would  continue  to 
blow  for  at  least  two  days  more. 

After  resting  and  sleeping  on  the  soft  sand  the 
boys  began  to  find  the  time  hang  heavily  on 
their  hands.  They  overhauled  their  sails  and 
rigging,  putting  them  in  complete  order.  Char- 
ley mended  a  pair  of  trousers  belonging  to  Joe 
in  a  really  artistic  way;  and  Joe,  with  his  left 
arm  in  a  sling,  played  "mumble-te-peg"  with 
Harry.  Tom  collected  fire-wood,  and,  when  he 
had  got  together  more  than  enough  to  cook  two 
or  three  meals,  occupied  himself  by  trying  to 
roll  a  heavy  log  into  a  position  near  the  canoes, 
where  it  could  be  used  as  a  seat  or  a  table. 

The  sand  was  strewn  with  logs,  big  and  little, 
and  Harry  proposed  that  as  many  logs  as  pos- 
sible should  be  got  together,  so  that  an  enormous 
camp-fire  could  be  started.  It  was  a  happy  idea, 
for  it  gave  the  boys  employment  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  day.  It  became  a  matter  o'f  pride 
with  them  to  bring  the  biggest  and  heaviest  of 


154   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

the  logs  up  to  the  fireplace.  Some  of  them  could 
only  be  stirred  with  levers,  and  moved  with  the 
help  of  rollers  cut  from  smaller  logs.  When- 
ever a  particularly  big  log  was  successfully 
moved  the  boys  were  encouraged  to  attack  a  still 
bigger  one.  Thus  they  finally  collected  an 
amount  of  fire-wood  sufficient  to  make  a  blaze 
bright  enough  to  be  seen  a  dozen  miles  at  night. 
When  they  were  tired  of  rolling  logs  Tom 
went  fishing,  but  caught  nothing;  while  Charley 
cooked  the  dinner  and  watched  the  rising  tide — 
half  afraid  that  the  water  would  reach  the  fire 
and  put  it  out  before  he  could  get  dinner  ready. 
The  tide  rose  so  high  that  it  came  within  two 
or  three  yards  of  the  fire,  and  almost  as  near  to 
the  canoes,  but  it  spared  the  dinner.  When  the 
tide  was  nearly  full  only  a  small  part  of  the 
sand-spit  was  out  of  water,  and  the  path  along 
the  foot  of  the  precipice  was  completely  cov- 
ered, so  that  the  waves  broke  directly  against 
the  rocks. 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  155 

"It's  lucky  for  us  that  the  tide  doesn't  cover 
the  whole  o'f  this  place,"  remarked  Charley  as 
he  placed  the  dinner  on  a  large  log  which  served 
as  a  table,  and  beat  a  tattoo  on  the  frying-pan 
as  a  signal  to  Tom  to  give  up  fishing  and  come 
to  dinner.  "I  should  hate  to  have  to  take  to  the 
canoes  again  in  this  wind." 

"It's  lucky  that  the  tide  will  ebb  again,"  said 
Harry,  "for  we're  cut  off  from  the  shore  as 
the  tide  is  now,  unless  we  could  climb  up  the 
rocks,  and  I  don't  believe  we  could." 

"It's  all  right,"  said  Tom,  putting  his  fishing- 
tackle  in  his  canoe,  "provided  the  tide  doesn't 
come  up  in  the  night  and  float  the  canoes  off." 

"Oh,  that  can't  happen  1"  exclaimed  Harry. 
"The  tide's  turned  already,  and  doesn't  reach 
the  canoes." 

"I'm  going  to  sleep  on  the  sand,"  remarked 
Joe.  "It's  softer  than  the  bottom  of  my  canoe, 
and  there  isn't  any  sign  of  rain." 

"You  don't  catch  me  sleeping  anywhere  ex- 


156   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

cept  in  my  canoe,"  said  Harry.  "There  isn't 
any  bed  more  comfortable  than  the  Sunshine.'1'' 

"Can  you  turn  over  in  her  at  night?"  asked 
Joe. 

"Well,  yes;  that  is,  if  I  do  it  very  slow  and 
easy." 

"The  bottom-board  is  a  nice  soft  piece  of 
wood,  isn't  it?"  continued  Joe. 

"It's  pine-wood,"  replied  Harry,  shortly. 
"Besides,  I  sleep  on  cushions." 

"And  you  like  to  lie  stretched  out  perfectly 
straight,  don't  you?" 

"I  like  it  well  enough — much  better  than  I 
like  to  see  a  young  officer  trying  to  chaff  his 
Commodore,"  returned  Harry,  trying  to  look 
very  stern. 

"Oh,  I'm  not  trying  to  chaff  anybody!"  ex- 
claimed Joe.  "I  was  only  wondering  if  your 
canoe  was  as  comfortable  as  a  coffin  would  be, 
and  I  believe  it  is — every  bit  as  comfortable." 

When  the  time  came  for  "turning  in"  Joe 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  157 

spread  his  water-proof  blanket  on  the  sand  close 
by  the  side  of  his  canoe.  He  had  dragged  her 
several  yards  away  from  the  rest  o'f  the  fleet,  so 
as  to  be  able  to  make  his  bed  on  the  highest  and 
driest  part  of  the  sand,  and  to  shelter  himself 
from  the  wind  by  lying  in  the  lee  of  his  boat. 
The  other  boys  preferred  to  sleep  in  their  ca- 
noes, which  were  placed  side  by  side  and  close 
together.  The  blazing  logs  made  the  camp  al- 
most as  light  as  if  the  sun  were  shining,  and  the 
boys  lay  awake  a  long  while  talking  together, 
and  hoping  that  the  wind  would  die  out  before 
morning. 

Joe,  whose  sprained  wrist  pained  him  a  little, 
was  the  last  to  fall  asleep.  While  he  had  ex- 
pressed no  fears  about  the  tide  (for  he  did  not 
wish  to  be  thought  nervous),  he  was  a  little  un- 
easy about  it.  He  had  noticed  that  when  the 
tide  rose  during  the  day  it  would  have  com- 
pletely covered  the  sand-spit  had  it  risen  only 
a  few  inches  higher.  Long  after  his  comrades 


158   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUR 

had  fallen  asleep  it  occurred  to  Joe  that  it  would 
have  been  a  wise  precaution  to  make  the  canoes 
fast  to  the  bushes,  so  that  they  could  not  be  car- 
ried away;  but  he  did  not  venture  to  wake  the 
boys  merely  in  order  to  give  them  advice  which 
they  probably  would  not  accept.  So  he  kept 
silent,  and  toward  ten  o'clock  fell  asleep. 

In  the  course  of  the  night  he  began  to  dream. 
He  thought  that  he  was  a  member  of  an  expe- 
dition trying  to  reach  the  North  Pole  in  canoes, 
and  that  he  was  sleeping  on  the  ice.  He  'felt 
that  his  feet  and  back  were  slowly  freezing,  and 
that  a  polar-bear  was  nudging  him  in  the  ribs 
occasionally,  to  see  if  he  was  alive  and  ready 
to  be  eaten.  This  was  such  an  uncomfortable 
situation  that  Joe  woke  up,  and  for  a  few  mo- 
ments could  not  understand  where  he  was. 

The  wind  had  gone  down,  the  stars  had  come 
out,  and  the  tide  had  come  up.  Joe  was  lying 
in  a  shallow  pool  of  water,  and  his  canoe,  which 
was  almost  afloat,  was  gently  rubbing  against 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  159 

him.  He  sprung  up  and  called  to  his  compan- 
ions. There  was  no  answer.  The  fire  was  out, 
but  by  the  starlight  Joe  could  see  that  the  whole 
sand-spit  was  covered  with  water,  and  that 
neither  the  other  boys  nor  their  canoes  were  in 
sight.  The  tide  was  still  rising,  and  Joe's  canoe 
was  beginning  to  float  away,  when  he  seized 
her,  threw  his  blankets  into  her,  and,  stepping 
aboard,  sat  down,  and  was  gently  floated  away. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

TOE  was  alone  on  the  St.  Lawrence  in  the 
*^  middle  of  the  night,  and  with  a  sprained 
wrist,  which  nearly  disabled  him  so  far  as  pad- 
dling was  concerned.  Worse  than  this,  his  com- 
rades had  disappeared,  and  there  could  not  be 
the  slightest  doubt  that  their  canoes  had  floated 
away  with  them  while  they  were  sound  asleep. 
What  chance  had  he  of  finding  them?  How 
could  he  get  ashore,  with  his  sprained  wrist; 
and  what  probability  was  there  that  the  three 
boys  thus  carried  away  in  their  sleep  would  es- 
cape from  their  dangerous  situation  without  any 
serious  accident? 

As  these  questions  presented  themselves  to  Joe 
his  first  impulse  was  to  admit  that  he  was  com- 
pletely disheartened  and  to  burst  into  tears.  He 
was,  however,  far  too  manly  to  yield  to  it,  and 

160 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  161 

he  immediately  began  to  think  what  was  the  best 
thing  that  he  could  do  in  the  circumstances. 

The  water  was  perfectly  smooth,  so  that  there 
was  really  no  danger  that  the  runaway  canoes 
would  capsize,  unless  their  owners  should  start 
up  in  a  fright  and  not  fully  understand  that  their 
canoes  were  no  longer  on  solid  land.  Neither 
was  there  much  chance  that  they  would  be  run 
down  by  steamboats,  for  the  steamboat  channel 
was  near  the  south  shore  of  the  river,  a  long  dis- 
tance from  the  sand-spit.  Joe  remembered  how 
'fast  the  tide  had  risen  the  day  before,  and  he 
calculated  that  the  missing  canoes  must  have 
been  afloat  about  half  an  hour  before  the  water 
reached  the  place  where  he  was  sleeping.  They 
would  naturally  drift  in  the  same  direction  in 
which  the  Dawn  was  drifting;  and  all  that  it 
would  be  necessary  for  Joe  to  do  in  order  to 
overtake  them  would  be  to  increase  the  speed 
at  which  his  canoe  was  moving. 

There  was  a  scarcely  perceptible  breeze  blow- 


1 62    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

ing  from  the  south.  .  Joe  got  up  his  main-mast 
and  set  his  sail.  Light  as  the  breeze  was,  the 
canoe  felt  it,  and  began  to  move  through  the 
water.  Joe  steered  by  the  stars,  and  kept  the 
Dawn  as  nearly  as  possible  on  the  course  which 
he  supposed  the  other  canoes  had  taken.  He 
had  no  lantern  with  him,  and  could  see  but  a 
little  distance  ahead  in  the  dark,  but  he  shouted 
every  few  moments,  partly  in  order  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  missing  canoeists,  and  partly 
in  order  to  warn  any  other  boat  that  might  be 
in  the  neighborhood  not  to  run  him  down. 

After  sailing  in  this  way  for  at  least  an  hour, 
and  hearing  no  sound  whatever  but  his  own 
voice  and  the  creaking  of  the  canoe's  spars,  Joe 
was  startled  at  perceiving  a  black  object  just 
ahead  of  him.  He  avoided  it  with  a  vigorous 
movement  of  his  paddle,  and  as  he  drifted  close 
to  it  with  the  wind  shaken  out  of  his  sail  he  saw 
to  his  great  delight  that  it  was  a  canoe. 

It   was   the   Sunshine,   with    her    canoe-tent 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  163 

rigged  over  her,  and  her  commander  sound 
asleep.  Taking  hold  of  her  gunwale,  Joe  drew 
the  two  canoes  together  and  put  his  hand  gently 
on  Harry's  forehead.  Harry  instantly  awoke, 
and  hearing  Joe  begging  him  as  he  valued  his 
li'fe  to  lie  perfectly  still,  took  the  latter's  advice, 
and  asked,  with  some  alarm,  what  was  the  mat- 
ter. When  he  learned  that  he  was  adrift  on 
the  river  he  sat  up,  took  down  his  tent,  and  get- 
ting out  his  paddle  joined  in  the  search  for  Tom 
and  Charley. 

"They  must  be  close  by,"  said  Harry,  "for  all 
three  canoes  must  have  floated  away  at  the  same 
time.  Tom  and  Charley  sleep  sounder  than  I 
do,  and  if  I  didn't  wake  up  it's  pretty  certain 
that  they  didn't." 

Presently  Charley's  canoe  was  overtaken. 
Charley  had  been  awakened  by  the  sound  of 
Harry's  paddle  and  the  loud  tone  in  which 
Harry  and  Joe  were  talking.  He  was  sitting 
up  when  the  Dawn  and  the  Sunshine  overtook 


1 64   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

him;  and  having  comprehended  the  situation 
in  which  he  found  himself  on  awaking,  he  was 
making  ready  to  paddle  ashore. 

There  was  now  only  one  canoe  missing — the 
Twilight.  Harry,  Joe,  and  Charley  took  turns 
in  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  lungs  for  Tom, 
but  they  could  obtain  no  answer  except  the  echo 
from  the  cliffs  of  the  north  shore.  They  pad- 
dled up  the  river  until  they  were  certain  that 
they  had  gone  farther  than  Tom  could  possibly 
have  drifted,  and  then  turned  and  paddled  down 
stream,  shouting  at  intervals,  ind  growing  more 
and  more  alarmed  at  finding  no  trace  of  the  lost 
canoe. 

"She  can't  have  sunk,  that's  one  comfort,"  ex- 
claimed Harry,  "for  the  bladders  that  Tom  put 
in  her  at  Chambly  would  keep  her  afloat,  even 
if  he  did  manage  to  capsize  her  in  the  dark." 

"He  took  the  bladders  out  yesterday  morning 
and  left  them  on  the  sand  just  in  the  lee  o'f  his 
canoe,"  said  Charley.  "Don't  you  remember 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  165 

that  he  sponged  her  out  after  we  landed,  and 
that  he  said  that  he  wouldn't  put  his  things  back 
into  her  until  we  were  ready  to  start?" 

"I  remember  it  now,"  replied  Harry.  "And 
I  remember  that  I  did  the  same  thing.  There's 
nothing  in  my  canoe  now  except  my  water-proof 
bag  and  my  blankets.  But  they're  not  of  much 
consequence  compared  with  Tom.  Boys,  do  you 
really  think  he's  drowned?" 

"Of  course  he  isn't,"  cried  Joe.  "We'll  find 
him  in  a  few  minutes.  He  must  be  somewhere 
near  by,  and  he's  sleeping  so  sound  that  he  don't 
hear  us.  You  know  how  hard  it  is  to  wake  him 
up." 

"Tom  is  a  first-rate  swimmer,  and  if  he  has 
spilt  himself  out  of  his  canoe  and  she  has  sunk, 
he  has  swum  ashore,"  said  Charley.  "My  opin- 
ion is  that  we  had  better  stay  just  where  we  are 
until  daylight,  and  then  look  for  him  along  the 
shore.  He's  worth  a  dozen  drowned  fellows, 
wherever  he  is." 


1 66    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

Charley's  advice  was  taken,  and  the  boys 
waited  for  daylight  as  patiently  as  they  could. 
Daylight — or  rather  dawn — came  in  the  course 
of  an  hour,  but  not  a  glimpse  of  the  missing 
canoe  did  it  afford.  The  tide  had  already 
changed,  and  the  top  of  the  treacherous  sand- 
spit  was  once  more  above  water,  and  not  very 
far  distant  from  the  canoes.  As  soon  as  it  was 
certain  that  nothing  could  be  seen  of  Tom  on 
the  water  his  alarmed  comrades  paddled 
toward  the  north  shore,  hoping  that  they  might 
find  him,  and  possibly  his  canoe,  somewhere  at 
the  'foot  of  the  rocks. 

They  were  again  unsuccessful.  While  Joe 
sailed  up  and  down  along  the  shore,  the  two 
other  boys  paddled  close  to  the  rocks,  and 
searched  every  foot  of  space  where  it  would 
have  been  possible  for  a  canoe  to  land,  or  a 
canoeist  to  keep  a  footing  above  the  water. 
They  had  searched  the  shore  for  a  full  mile 
above  the  sand-spit  and  had  paddled  back  nearly 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  167 

half  the  way,  when  they  were  suddenly  hailed, 
and  looking  up,  saw  Tom  standing  on  a  ledge 
of  rock  ten  feet  above  the  water. 

"Are  you  fellows  going  to  leave  me  here  all 
day?"  demanded  Tom.  "I  began  to  think  you 
were  all  drowned,  and  that  I'd  have  to  starve  to 
death  up  here." 

"How  in  the  world  did  you  get  up  there?" 
"Where  were  you  when  we  came  by  here  half 
an  hour  ago?"  "Where's  your  canoe?"  "Are 
you  all  right?"  These  and  a  dozen  other  ques- 
tions were  hurled  at  Tom  by  his  excited  and 
overjoyed  friends. 

"I  was  asleep  until  a  few  minutes  ago,"  re- 
plied Tom.  "I  got  up  here  when  the  tide  was 
high,  and  I  had  hard  work  to  do  it,  too." 

"What's  become  of  your  canoe?  Is  she  lost?" 
asked  Harry. 

"She's  somewhere  at  the  bottom  of  the  river. 
I  tried  to  turn  over  in  her  in  the  night,  thinking 
she  was  on  the  sand-spit,  but  she  turned  over 


1 68    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

with  me,  and  sunk  before  I  could  make  out  what 
had  happened." 

"And  then  you  swum  ashore?" 

"Yes.  I  saw  the  north-star,  and  knew  that  if 
I  could  swim  long  enough  I  could  find  the  shore. 
When  I  struck  these  rocks  I  was  disappointed, 
for  I  couldn't  find  a  place  where  I  could  land 
until  I  got  my  hands  on  this  ledge  and  drew 
myself  up." 

"Unless  Tom  wants  to  stay  where  he  is  we'd 
better  invent  some  way  of  taking  him  with  us," 
remarked  Joe. 

"He'll  have  to  get  into  my  canoe,"  said  Harry. 

"How  deep  is  the  water  where  you  are?" 
asked  Tom. 

"It's  any  where  from  six  feet  to  sixty.  I  can't 
touch  bottom  with  the  paddle,  so  it's  certain  to 
be  more  than  seven  feet  deep." 

"Then,  if  you'll  please  to  give  me  room,  I'll 
jump,  and  somebody  can  pick  me  up." 

Tom  jumped  into  the  water,  and  had  little 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  169 

trouble  in  climbing  into  Harry's  canoe — the 
water  being  perfectly  quiet.  The  fleet  then  pad- 
dled back  to  the  sand-spit,  where  they  landed 
and  breakfasted,  while  Tom  dried  his  clothes 
by  the  fire. 

Every  member  of  the  expedition  except  Joe 
had  lost  something,  and  poor  Tom  had  lost  his 
canoe  and  everything  except  the  clothes  which 
he  was  wearing.  As  long  as  the  water  con- 
tinued to  be  smooth  Tom  could  be  carried  in 
either  Harry's  or  Charley's  canoe,  but  in  case 
the  wind  and  sea  should  rise  it  would  be  very 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  keep  the  canoe 
right  side  up  with  two  persons  in  her.  Quebec 
was  still  at  least  twenty-five  miles  distant,  and 
it  would  take  nearly  a  whole  day  of  very  hard 
work  to  paddle  a  heavy  canoe,  with  two  boys  in 
her,  only  one  of  whom  was  furnished  with  a 
paddle,  twenty-five  miles,  even  in  the  most 
favorable  circumstances.  Moreover,  Joe's 
sprained  wrist  made  it  impossible  for  him  to 


i  yo   THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

paddle,  and  the  wind  was  so  light  that  sailing 
to  Quebec  was  out  of  the  question. 

It  was  therefore  decided  that  Harry  should 
take  Joe  in  the  Sunshine  back  to  the  Jacques 
Cartier,  and  leaving  him  to  walk  to  the  nearest 
railway-station,  should  return  to  the  sand-spit 
and  join  Tom  and  Charley  in  paddling  down  to 
Quebec,  Tom  taking  Joe's  canoe.  Although  the 
boys  had  originally  intended  to  end  their  cruise 
at  Quebec,  they  had  become  so  fond  of  canoeing 
that  they  would  gladly  have  gone  on  to  the 
Saguenay  River  and,  if  possible,  to  Lake  St. 
John;  but  now  that  Tom  was  without  a  canoe 
no  one  thought  of  prolonging  the  cruise. 

Quebec  was  reached  by  the  fleet  several  hours 
a'fter  Joe  had  arrived  there  by  the  train.  He 
was  at  the  landing-place  to  meet  his  comrades, 
and  had  already  made  a  bargain  with  a  canal- 
boatman  to  carry  the  canoes  all  the  way  to  New 
York  for  five  dollars  each.  As  the  Sunshine 
was  fitted  with  hatches  which  fastened  with  a 


THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB  171 

lock,  and  as  it  would  be  necessary  for  the 
Custom-house  officer  at  Rouse's  Point  to  search 
her,  Harry  wrote  to  the  Custom-house  at  that 
place,  giving  directions  how  to  open  the  lock. 
It  was  a  padlock  without  a  key,  one  of  the  so- 
called  letter-locks  which  can  be  opened  by  plac- 
ing the  letters  in  such  a  position  that  they  spell 
some  particular  word.  Harry  had  provided  the 
canoe  with  this  lock  expressly  in  order  to  avoid 
trouble  at  Custom-houses,  and  in  this  instance 
the  plan  proved  completely  successful,  for  the 
officer  at  Rouse's  Point  was  able  to  unlock  the 
canoe  and  to  lock  it  up  again  without  a  key. 

The  boys  spent  a  night  and  a  day  at  Quebec, 
and,  after  seeing  their  canoes  safely  started,  they 
took  the  train  for  New  York.  As  they  talked 
over  their  cruise  on  the  way  home  they  agreed 
that  canoeing  was  far  more  delightful'than  any 
other  way  of  cruising,  and  that  they  would  go 
on  a  canoe  cruise  every  summer. 


172    THE  CRUISE  OF  THE  CANOE  CLUB 

"As  soon  as  I  can  afford  it  I  shall  get  a  new 
canoe,"  said  Tom. 

"Will  you  get  a  'Rice  Laker'?"  asked  Harry. 

"Of  course  I  will.  My  canoe  was  much  the 
best  boat  in  the  fleet,  and  I  shall  get  another 
exactly  like  her." 

"There's  no  doubt  that  you  are  a  genuine 
canoeist,  Tom,"  said  Charley.  "You've  had  lots 
of  trouble  with  your  canoe  because  she  had  no 
deck,  and  at  last  she  sunk  and  nearly  drowned 
you,  because  she  had  no  water-tight  compart- 
ments; but  for  all  that  you  really  think  that  she 
was  the  best  canoe  ever  built.  Is  everybody  else 
convinced  that  his  own  canoe  is  the  best  in  the 
world?" 

"I  am,"  cried  Joe. 

"And  I  am,"  cried  Harry. 

"So  am  I,"  added  Charley;  "and  as  this 
proves  that  we  are  all  thorough  canoeists,  we 
will  join  the  American  Canoe  Association  at 
once,  and  cruise  under  its  flag  next  summer." 


THE  DEMON  OF 
SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

Rescued  from  a  Lammergeyer 
BY  AGNES  CARR  SAGE 

^  INHERE  were  weeping  and  wailing  within 
the  Saunders'  modest  "one-story-and-a- 
jump"  cottage.  Monongahela's  eyes  were  red 
from  crying;  the  twins,  Dallas  Lee  and  Jemima 
Calline,  had  for  once  lost  their  appetite,  even 
for  cornpone  and  molasses;  and  Washington 
Beauregard,  the  eldest  of  the  brood  of  young- 
sters, frowned  gloomily,  and  ground  his  teeth 
in  deep  if  silent  rage  as  he  polished  up  his  anti- 
quated old  rifle  and  thought  upon  vengeance. 
Only  the  baby  crowed  and  gurgled  as  lustily  as 

ever,  shaking  his  gourd  rattle  in  blissful  infan- 

173 


174  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

tile  ignorance  of  the  loss  that  had  befallen  the 
family — a  loss  most  keenly  felt  by  the  children, 
for  it  was  that  of  the  bonny  ewe-lamb,  their  pet 
and  plaything  by  day,  and  almost  their  bed- 
fellow by  night;  while  the  manner  of  its  dis- 
appearance was  shrouded  in  profound  mystery. 

"Mebbe  'twas  Butcher  Killem  who  tuck 
him,"  suddenly  suggested  the  lugubrious  boy 
twin.  "Tuck  him  to  make  roasts  'n'  chops  of; 
'n'  if  it  was,  we  may  be  eatin'  Cotton  Ball  for 
dinner  some  of  these  fine  days." 

A  dire  prediction,  which  immediately  sent 
Jemima  Calline  off  into  a  wild  paroxysm  of 
grief,  flinging  herself  flat  upon  the  floor,  and 
drumming  a  funeral  tattoo  with  her  best  Sun- 
day shoes  on  the  gay  rag  carpet  of  domestic 
manufacture.  "I'll  never  taste  mutton  again; 
never,  never,  the  longest  day  I  live!"  she  howled. 

"Now,  Dallas  Lee,  see  what  you've  done!" 
scolded  Monongahela,  usually  called  Monny 
for  short.  "You've  set  her  off  agin,  and  we'll 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    175 

have  her  in  'sterics  direckly.  Thar  ain't  no 
need  of  any  sech  fool  talk  either,  and  slanderin' 
your  neighbor  into  the  bargain.  Mr.  Killem 
is  an  honest  man,  who  buys  V  pays  for  all  the 
critters  he  cuts  up.  Besides,  I  caught  the  lamb 
myself,  and  shet  her  up  in  the  wood-shed  before 
ever  we  started  for  the  bush-meetin'.  I  locked 
the  door  V  took  the  key  in  my  pocket.  The 
door  was  still  locked  when  we  came  back." 

"Ya — as;  but  ye  couldn't  lock  the  hole  in  the 
roof,"  drawled  Wash,  looking  up  from  his 
polishing.  "The  hole  pap  'n'  I  hev  been  cal- 
culatin'  to  mend  for  some  time  back,  but  ain't 
got  at  yit,  more's  the  pity.  Thar's  where  the 
thief  come  in.  For  thar  on  the  shingles  is  where 
the  locks  of  wool  are  a-hangin'." 

"But  I  can't  see  how  anybody  could  clamber 
up  thar,  drop  through  a  hole,  and  git  back  agin 
with  a  big  kickin'  beast  in  his  arms;  for  if  he'd 
killed  it  on  the  spot  ther'd  be  blood  spattered 
'round." 


176  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

"Mebbe  nobody  could,  but  mebbe  something 
might." 

"Something!  What  sort  of  a  thing?  A  fox 
or  any  other  animal?" 

"P'r'aps  so."  But  Wash  would  say  no  more. 
He  was  famous  for  holding  his  own  counsel, 
and  did  so  now,  until  the  yellow  moon  had  risen 
from  behind  the  glorious  mountain  peaks  sur- 
rounding their  little  primitive  West  Virginia 
home,  and  he  and  his  favorite  sister  wandered 
out  together  into  the  soft,  pine-scented  night. 
Then,  however,  their  thoughts  naturally  re- 
verted to  the  mysterious  disappearance,  and  the 
girl  asked,  somewhat  curiously,  "So,  Washing- 
ton Beauregard,  you  won't  allow  that  the 
'ornery'  thief  what  stole  our  pet  come  on  two 
legs?" 

"No,  Monny,  nor  on  four  legs,  nuther,"  an- 
swered her  brother,  "though  I  didn't  want  to 
say  much  afore  the  chillen.  But  I've  been 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    177 

a-studyin'  over  this  matter,  and  I  begin  to  fear 
that  he  comes  on  wings." 

"On  wings!  Law,  then,  he  must  be  a  bird! 
But  I  never  saw  a  hawk,  or  even  an  eagle,  big 
and  strong  enough  to  tote  off  a  half-grown  sheep 
like  Cotton  Ball.  Strikes  me  it's  dumb  foolish- 
ness you're  talkin',  Wash." 

"Waal,  I  dunno  about  that.  Hevn't  you 
heard  the  old  hunters,  on  winter  nights,  tell  of 
a  curisome-winged  thing  that  once  made  its  nest 
over  yonder  on  Snaggle  Tooth?"  and  the  youth 
pointed  to  a  high,  dark,  jagged  crag  silhouetted 
against  the  purplish-blue  sky.  "It  did  a  power 
of  mischief  in  this  neighborhood,  totin'  off 
chickens  'n'  dogs  'n'  sheep,  and  some  say  even 
tacklin'  a  calf.  'Twas  a  cute  old  fowl,  so  no- 
body could  git  a  crack  at  it;  but  it  was  up  to 
so  much  devilment  that  they  called  it  the  Demon 
of  Snaggle-Tooth  Rock." 

"Oh,  yaas,  I've  heard  o'  that  often;  but  it  was 


178  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

years  ago,  before  you  or  I  were  born,  an'  the 
critter  hasn't  been  raound  here  since." 

"That's  so;  but  what  has  been  kin  be.  And 
the  other  day  Tim  Harkins  tole  me  a  yarn  about 
jest  sech  a  bird  havin'  been  seen  lately  over 
Stonycliff  way — a  monstrous  chap,  something 
like  a  golden  eagle,  only  bigger  an'  wickeder- 
lookin',  with  a  more  crooked  beak,  an'  feathers 
of  a  dirty  brownish-gray.  At  the  time  I  thought 
Tim  was  jest  a-humbuggin',  but  after  the  little 
beast  disappeared  so  unaccountable  like,  I  be- 
gun to  reckon  it  must  be  true,  sure  enough." 

"Oh,  Wash,  I  can't  bear  to  think  of  it!"  and 
Monny's  face  looked  quite  pale  in  the  moon- 
light. "Poor,  dear  little  Cotton  Ball!  Fancy 
that  demon  and  his  mate  tearing  her  limb  from 
limb!  It  'most  breaks  my  heart."  And  long 
after  the  girl  had  climbed  the  ladder  leading 
to  the  low  attic  under  the  clapboard  roof,  which 
she  had  shared  with  the  younger  children  ever 
since  their  mother's  death  one  year  before,  she 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    179 

lingered  at  the  tiny  two-paned  window  gazing 
off  at  the  peaceful-seeming  hills,  but  in  imagina- 
tion following  the  lost  lambkin  to  the  eagle's 
grim  aerie  on  wild,  inaccessible  Snaggle-Tooth 
Rock. 

"It  is  dreadful,  dreadful.  But  I  won't  tell 
Jemima  Calline,"  was  her  last  thought,  as  she 
crept  into  bed  beside  her  sister. 

Monongahela  wras  old  beyond  her  fourteen 
years,  and  bravely  strove  to  fill  the  place  of  their 
lost  parent  to  the  motherless  little  ones,  send- 
ing them  trim  and  tidy  to  school  and  "Methody 
meetin',"  feeding  them  on  plenty  of  bacon,  corn- 
dodgers, and  apple-butter,  and  every  morning, 
in  spite  of  grimaces,  dosing  them  all  round  with 
"whiskey  and  burdock"  as  an  antidote  against 
dyspepsia,  the  curse  of  that  hog-eating,  excessive 
coffee-drinking  community. 

Within  a  few  days  Washington's  fears  were 
painfully  confirmed.  Our  young  mountain  folk 
were  out  one  afternoon  on  the  hillside  gathering 


i8o  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

ginseng  and  other  herbs,  when  they  met  the 
circuit-rider  who  visited  in  turn  the  churches 
of  their  vicinity,  and  whom  Mr.  Saunders  had 
frequently  entertained.  He  paused  for  a  chat, 
and  informed  them  of  the  consternation  created 
in  a  neighboring  valley  by  the  appearance  of 
the  terrible  bird  to  prey  upon  any  poultry  or 
small  animals  left  out  overnight;  while  one  man 
had  been  severely  wounded  in  an  almost  hand- 
to-claw  tussle  in  order  to  save  his  dog. 

The  following  morning,  then,  when  Monny, 
with  the  baby  toddling  by  her  side,  went  out 
early  to  milk  the  cow,  she  heard  a  continuous 
firing,  and  came  upon  her  brother  armed  with 
the  old  flint-lock  rifle  which  he  had  inherited 
from  his  grandfather,  popping  away  at  the 
brown  and  purple  cones  on  the  top  of  a  tall 
pine-tree,  and  deftly  snapping  off  the  one  at 
which  he  aimed  nine  times  out  of  ten. 

"Well,  Washington  Beauregard,  I'll  allow 
you  are  a  pretty  fair  marksman,"  she  remarked, 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    181 

after  a  moment  of  admiring  watching.  "Not 
many  private  hunters  kin  wing  a  bird  as  well 
as  you,  kin  they?" 

"Reckon  I  could  hold  my  own  agin  most  of 
they-uns  if  I  only  had  a  new-fangled  gun,"  re- 
turned the  boy.  "This  old  fowlin'-piece  ain't 
wuth  much,  and  I  do  hope  I  kin  sell  enough 
'sang' l  this  year  to  buy  another.  'Tain't  much 
fun  to  git  a  fine  aim  at  a  buck  and  lose  him 
'cause  your  gun  misses  fire.  As  it  is,  though, 
I  believe  I  could  snip  a  curl  off  the  baby's  head 
an'  hardly  scare  the  darlin'.  Jest  hold  him  up, 
honey,  an'  let  me  hev  a  try."  But  to  this  Wil- 
liam Tell  arrangement  Monny  objected  in 
horror,  and  scurried  off  with  the  infant,  followed 
by  Wash's  roar  of  laughter  and  shouts  of  "Ho, 
scare  rabbit!  But  anyhow  I  mean  to  keep  in 
practice,  'n'  hev  a  cold-lead  welcome  ready  for 
that  air  eagle  if  he  ever  shows  hisself  this  way 
agin." 

1  Ginseng. 


1 82  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

The  bird  did  not  come;  but  about  noon  Tim 
Harkins  did,  ambling  along  on  a  raw-boned 
sorrel  nag,  and  reined  up  at  the  gate  with  a 
long-drawn-out  "Whoa,  tharl" 

"Wash  Saunders!  Oh,  Wash!"  he  called, 
and  that  youth,  rising  from  the  dinner-table, 
appeared  in  the  ramshackle  porch. 

"Hello,  Tim,  is  that  you?  Step  in  an'  hev 
a  bite,  won't  yer?" 

"No,  thankee.  I'm  jest  on  my  way  to  a 
gander-pull  over  nigh  the  Springs,  V  on'y 
stopped  to  fotch  you  a  message.  Ye  wouldn't 
keer,  naow,  to  hire  out  for  a  few  weeks,  at  a 
dollar  a  day,  would  yer?" 

"What  to  do?" 

"Oh,  jest  to  show  a  gentleman  through  the 
mountings,  an'  pint  out  the  hants  o'  the  wild 
birds.  'Pears  this  perfessor,  as  they  call  him, 
is  stoppin'  over  to  the  Spring  Hotel,  an'  the 
landlord,  Poke  Dickson,  axed  me  ef  I  knowed 
any  o'  the  neighborhood  boys  who  would  like 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    183 

the  job — someim  what  wuz  a  first-rate  shot,  an' 
'quainted  with  all  the  trails.  'Yaas,'  I  tole  him, 
'Wash  Saunders  am  the  very  chap,  ef  you  kin 
git  him.  But,'  I  added,  'the  Saunders  air  pooty 
ticky,  an'  Wash,  mebbe,  won't  relish  playin' 
pinter-dorg  to  any  one.  For,'  sez  I,  'his  pappy 
am  a  forehanded  man,  who  keeps  his  fambly 
comf  ble.  He  hez  a  good  corn  'n'  tobaccy  field, 
'n'  the  gyurls  hez  a  kyarpet  on  the  best  room,  'n' 
curtings  to  the  windys,  'n'  everything  mighty 
slick.  Still,'  sez  I,  ( 'twon't  do  no  harm  to  ax.* 
So  here  I  be." 

"Sho,  Tim,  you  know  I  'ain't  so  ticky  as  that. 
Dunno  but  I'd  like  it  first-rate,  for  I'm  strivin' 
to  get  a  new  rifle.  Granddaddy's  old  'Sally 
Blazer,'  as  he  used  to  name  it,  is  about  played 
out." 

"Waal,  naow,  then,  here's  your  chance,  'n'  I'm 
real  tickled.  But  I  must  be  a-joggin'.  G'lang, 
Juniper!  Shall  I  tell  Poke  you  will  go  over  'n' 
see  the  perfessor?" 


1 84  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

"Yes,  I  will,  this  very  evenin'  " — which  the 
boy  did,  and  returned  jubilant.  "It's  a  snap, 
a  reg'lar  snap,"  he  declared  to  the  group  of 
brothers  and  sisters  who  ran  to  meet  him.  "Pro- 
fessor Stuart  is  real  quality,  an'  no  mistake. 
He's  an  orni — orni — waal,  I  don't  rightly  re- 
member the  name,  but  he's  plumb  crazy  about 
birds,  'n'  corned  here  a-purpose  to  see  those  what 
live  in  West  Virginia.  It's  a  cur'ous  notion,  but 
he's  nice,  'n'  so  is  Mis'  Stuart,  though  she  lies 
on  a  sofy  most  of  the  time,  and  looks  drefful 
white  'n'  pindlin'." 

"Air  there  any  chilluns?"  inquired  Jemima 
Calline. 

"Yaas,  two.  An  aWful  pooty  gyurl,  with  eyes 
like  brown  stars,  an'  all  rigged  out  in  white, 
same  as  an  angel,  with  big,  puffy  sleeves;  an'  the 
jolliest  small  boy  you  ever  see.  He's  a  down- 
right little  man,  though  he's  only  five  year  old, 
an'  he's  curls  down  to  his  waist." 

"Waal,  then,  sence  they  were  so  friendly,  I 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    185 

s'pose  you  came  to  some  bargain?"  said  Monon- 
gahela. 

"Sartain;  an'  I'm  to  meet  Mr.  Stuart  to- 
morrer  mornin'  at  the  cross-roads  an'  show  him 
a  red-bird's  nest.  He  wants  to  collect  eggs  an' 
live  specimens." 

When,  then,  the  professor  rode  up  to  the  ap- 
pointed rendezvous  on  the  following  day,  he 
found  Wash  awaiting  him,  "Sally  Blazer"  in 
hand,  and  a  powder-horn  and  shot-pouch  slung 
from  his  neck  by  a  leather  strap.  His  feet,  too, 
were  encased  in  moccasins  that  his  footfall 
might  not  startle  the  shy  creatures  of  the  wild- 
wood. 

"Ah,  my  lad,  I  see  you  understand  the  busi- 
ness," remarked  the  ornithologist,  with  an  ap- 
proving nod,  "and  I  predict  we  shall  be  fine 
friends." 

Thus,  too,  it  proved,  and  for  both.  That  was 
the  beginning  of  a  month  of  happy,  halcyon 
days  spent  in  the  open;  a  perpetual  picnic,  seal- 


1 86  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

ing  the  rough  but  ever-enchanting  hills,  wander- 
ing through  the  beautiful  solemn  pine  forests, 
following  nature's  most  winsome  things  to  their 
chosen  haunts,  and  always  breathing  in  the 
resinous,  health-giving  mountain  air.  Some- 
times, when  the  tramp  was  not  to  be  too  long 
a  one,  small  Royal  accompanied  his  father,  gay 
and  joyous  as  a  dancing  grig,  and  looking  like 
a  little  Highland  princeling  in  his  outing  cos- 
tume of  Scotch  plaid,  proudly  flourishing  a  tiny 
wooden  gun. 

"We  are  good  chums,  ain't  we,  Wash?"  he 
would  say,  in  his  precocious,  friendly  little  way 
— "good  chums,  going  hunting  together.  But 
we  mustn't  kill  things  just  for  fun.  That  is 
naughty.  Papa  says  food  or  science  is  the  only 
excuse.  He  never  takes  but  one  egg  from  a 
nest,  and  would  rather  snare  birds  than  shoot 
them." 

Occasionally,  too,  pretty  Jean  would  join  the 
party  at  a  given  point,  driving  over  with  a 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    187 

dainty  lunch  from  the  hotel,  and  then  there 
would  be  a  merry  outdoor  meal  in  some  cosey 
green  nook,  near  to  one  of  the  cold,  clear  moun- 
tain springs  which  furnished  the  purest  and 
most  refreshing  beverage. 

And  what  a  revelation  this  experience  was  to 
poor  little  Washington  Beauregard!  Not  only 
the  bits  of  knowledge  he  picked  up  from  the 
ornithologist's  learned  discourses  on  the  gor- 
geous Virginia-cardinals  and  orioles,  the  red- 
capped  woodpeckers  and  flitting  humming- 
birds, but  in  a  different  style  of  girlhood  and 
more  refined  mode  of  life  than  he  had  ever 
known.  Day  by  day,  too,  he  became  fonder 
of  and  more  devoted  to  his  new  friends,  and 
looked  forward  with  dread  to  the  time  when 
they  must  part.  All  too  speedily,  then,  that 
date  drew  on  apace,  until  the  morning  set  for 
their  last  pleasant  tramp  dawned.  The  pro-, 
lessor  and  Washington  started  early,  while  at 
noon  Jean  and  Royal  met  them  on  the  hills 


i88  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

above  Stonycliff,  climbing  the  last  rough  incline, 
that  being  too  steep  for  the  horses  and  carriage, 
which  were  left  with  the  driver  at  a  small  clear- 
ing part  way  down  the  mountain. 

"And  just  think,  papa,"  cried  Jean,  "we 
found  the  squatter's  wife  at  the  log  house  below 
in  sore  trouble.  Yesterday  that  horrible  eagle, 
of  which  we  have  heard  so  much,  swooped  down 
and  carried  off  her  milch-goat  almost  before 
her  very  eyes,  and  now  what  she  is  going  to  do 
for  milk  for  her  baby  she  does  not  know." 

"Well,  that  is  a  misfortune,  truly,"  said  the 
professor,  "and  we  must  see  what  we  can  do  to 
help  her;  but  I  wish  I  had  been  here  to  have  a 
peep  at  that  abnormal  bird.  I  imagine  the 
stories  regarding  it  are  much  exaggerated,  but 
if  not,  it  cannot  be  an  eagle;  must  belong  to 
the  semi-vulturine  family,  though  those  are 
rarer  than  white  blackbirds  in  this  part  of  the 
world.  I  really  am  curious  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  creature."  And,  as  it  chanced,  he  was 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    189 

destined  to  have  his  curiosity  satisfied  in  a  way 
he  little  dreamed  of. 

The  collation  eaten  that  day  under  the  trees 
was  an  unusually  bountiful  one,  reflecting  credit 
on  mine  host  of  the  Spring  House,  and  a'fter  it 
the  ornithologist  stretched  himself  out  to  enjoy 
an  afternoon  cigar,  while  Jean,  followed  by  her 
small  brother,  wandered  off  to  sketch  a  charm- 
ing view  that  had  taken  her  fancy.  Meanwhile 
Wash  cleared  away  the  remains  of  the  feast, 
packing  the  dishes  in  the  hamper,  and  carefully 
saving  any  fragments  of  good  things  for  the 
little  ones  at  home. 

He  had  just  completed  his  task,  when  a  fright- 
ened cry  of  "Sister,  oh,  sister!"  and  a  blood- 
curdling shriek  from  the  girl  made  him  snatch 
up  his  fowling-piece  and  fly  in  the  direction  the 
young  Stuarts  had  taken.  The  professor  also 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  followed  suit,  while,  as 
they  emerged  from  the  shadow  of  the  wood, 
both  were  almost  paralyzed  by  the  sight  they  be- 


190  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

held.  For  there  stood  Jean,  white  to  the  very 
lips,  but  bravely  endeavoring  with  her  climbing- 
staff  to  beat  off  an  enormous  bird,  in  whose  great 
cruel  talons  struggled  little  Royal,  upon  whom 
had  been  made  a  sudden  and  fierce  attack. 

"My  goodness,  it's  the  demon  I"  gasped  Wash, 
while  the  father,  overcome  by  a  sickening  hor- 
ror, fell  back  against  a  tree.  Even,  too,  as  they 
approached,  the  huge,  repulsive  creature  spread 
its  big  dusky  wings  and  began  slowly  to  rise, 
bearing  off  in  its  claws  the  poor  child,  who 
stretched  out  his  tiny  hand,  sobbing  piteously, 
"Oh,  papa,  save  me!"  There  was  one  terrible 
nightmarish  second,  when  nobody  had  power  to 
move,  and  then  the  professor,  with  a  wild  lunge 
forward,  caught  at  his  vanishing  boy.  But  the 
the  gay  kilt  slipped  through  his  fingers,  and 
still  the  bird  of  prey  soared  relentlessly  upward 
and  onward. 

But  at  that  moment  Granddaddy  Saunders' 
old  rifle  was  raised  and  levelled  at  the  monster. 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    191 

"Oh,  Wash,  pray  be  careful;  you  may  hit 
the  wee  laddie!"  cried  Jean,  sinking  down  and 
covering  her  face. 

No  one  knew  the  danger  better  than  the 
mountain-bred  youth,  but  he  held  himself  well 
in  hand  and  kept  cool.  "I  must  only  maim,  not 
kill  the  critter  outright,"  he  thought,  "and  may 
old  'Sally  Blazers'  not  miss  fire  this  timel" 

Then  he  took  careful  aim,  a  bullet  whistled 
through  the  air,  and  the  "demon's"  left  wing 
dropped  powerless  at  his  side.  They  could  see 
the  wrathful  red  gleam  in  the  creature's  eyes  as 
it  paused,  wavered,  and  careened  to  one  side, 
but  the  right  pinion  still  flapped  vigorously,  and 
kept  it  up,  while  it  still  retained  its  clutch  on 
the  little  fellow,  who  no  longer  screamed,  but 
now  appeared  ominously  quiet  and  white. 

"Ef  he  gits  over  the  precipice  all  is  lost," 
murmured  the  young  sportsman,  with  a  glance 
toward  the  edge  of  the  cliff  upon  which  they 
stood,  and  he  wasted  no  time  in  reloading  and 


192  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

firing  again.  And  oh,  joy!  again  he  winged  his 
victim,  which,  uttering  an  unearthly,  discordant 
cry,  began  to  flutter  slowly  downward.  But 
now  a  fresh  danger  threatened  Royal,  'for  the 
bird,  maddened  by  pain,  suddenly  released  its 
hold,  and  the  fair  little  head  must  surely  have 
been  crushed  on  the  jagged  rocks  beneath,  had 
not  Wash  been  prepared  for  this,  and,  springing 
forward,  caught  him  in  his  strong  young  arms, 
although  the  precipitancy  with  which  the  child 
came  almost  flung  both  to  the  ground.  There 
was  just  an  instant,  too,  in  which  to  stagger  to 
one  side,  before,  with  a  whirl  and  a  whir,  the 
mighty  fowl  was  upon  them,  striking  the  stony 
ledge  with  a  dull,  sickening  thud.  Wounded, 
but  by  no  means  dead,  was  the  Snaggle-Tooth 
Demon,  and  he  fought  desperately  with  beak 
and  claws,  and  beat  himself  against  the  granite, 
until  a  third  shot  from  old  "Sally  Blazers" 
finally  ended  his  career  forever. 

Meanwhile  poor  little  Royal  lay  stretched  on 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    193 

a  bed  of  moss,  pale  and  unconscious,  his  gar- 
ments torn  to  tatters,  and  blood  streaming  from 
his  chubby  legs  and  arms. 

"He  is  dead;  my  bonny  wee  laddie  is  dead! 
And  how  ever  shall  I  tell  his  mother?"  sobbed 
the  professor,  completely  unnerved.  But  Jeanie 
never  stopped  charing  the  dimpled  hands,  and 
bathing  the  white  forehead  with  cold  water; 
until,  after  what  seemed  an  eternity,  a  low  sigh 
issued  from  between  the  child's  pale  lips. 

"No,  papa  dear,  he  is  breathing,  and  it  is 
Wash,  good,  brave  Wash,  who  has  saved  him." 
And  when  the  young  girl  turned  and  thanked 
him,  and  her  eyes  filled  with  grateful  tears,  the 
uncouth  backwoods  boy,  though  he  could  only 
stammer  and  blush,  felt  it  to  be  the  proudest 
moment  in  all  his  fifteen  years  of  life. 

Soon  Royal  regained  consciousness,  but 
seemed  so  dazed  and  frightened,  clinging  to  his 
sister  and  imploring  her  to  "hide  him  from  the 
awful,  scratching  claws,"  both  father  and 


194  DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

daughter  looked  worued.  "For  it  will  kill 
mamma  to  see  him  in  this  condition,"  groaned 
Jean. 

"Oh,  then,"  put  in  Wash,  eagerly,  "jest  tote 
him  down  to  our  house.  Monny  would  admire 
to  hev  yer,  'n'  she's  a  fust-rate  nuss." 

"Do  you  think  so?  Would  your  sister  really 
not  object?" 

"  'Deed  no;  she  will  be  plumb  right  glad." 

So  it  was  decided,  and  so  the  young  Stuarts 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Monongahela, 
Jemima  Calline,  Dallas  Lee,  and  the  baby,  and 
slept  in  the  room  with  the  "rag  kyarpet  and  the 
curlings,"  which  was  hastily  prepared  for  the 
unexpected  guests,  while  by  the  fitful  light  of 
six  pine  knots  the  killing  of  the  Snaggle-Tooth 
Demon  was  rehearsed  again  and  again.  Monny 
lost  her  heart  to  gentle,  ladylike  Jean,  and  con- 
cocted such  a  bowl  of  "yarb  tea"  for  Royal  that 
he  slept  soundly  all  night,  and  awoke  his  own 
bright,  bonny  little  self. 


DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK    195 

"It  has  been  a  strange  conclusion  to  a  most 
satisfactory  summer,"  said  Processor  Stuart, 
when  he  appeared  at  the  cottage  the  next  day. 
"And  but  for  you,  Washington,  would  have 
been  a  very  tragic  one." 

But  when  he  attempted  to  reward  the  boy 
with  money  he  stiffened  in  a  moment.  "No, 
thankee,  sir,"  he  said.  "I  can't  take  it.  Why, 
I  love  that  leetle  R'yal  most  as  much  as  I  do 
Dallas  Lee,  'n'  I  won't  be  paid  for  rescuin'  him. 
Besides,  I  had  a  grudge  agin  that  air  eagle,  on 
my  own  account,  all  along  of  Cotton  Ball." 

"That  vulture,  you  mean;  for  I  was  not  mis- 
taken. It  belongs  to  the  vulture  family,  though, 
sometimes  erroneously  called  the  'golden  eagle.' 
Well,  I  am  not  sure  but  you  can  get  a  nice  little 
sum  for  that  specimen,  as  it  is  a  rare  and  un- 
usually large  one.  Suppose  I  take  it  to  the 
city,  and  see  what  I  can  do  for  you?" 

To  this  Wash  agreed,  and  the  huge  bird  of 
prey,  which  was  found  to  measure  fourteen 


196    DEMON  OF  SNAGGLE-TOOTH  ROCK 

feet  from  tip  to  tip  of  its  broad  wings,  after 
lying  in  state,  and  being  visited  by  half  the 
county,  was  shipped  to  New  York,  while  the 
amount  returned  by  the  professor  for  the  great 
carcass  seemed  a  veritable  'fortune  to  the  Saun- 
ders,  whom  the  neighbors  say  are  more  "ticky" 
than  ever. 

Certainly  St.  George  never  won  more  local 
fame  by  his  dragon  slaying  than  did  Washing- 
ton Beauregard  by  his  lucky  feat,  and  he  is 
proud  of  the  handsome  silver-mounted  Win- 
chester rifle,  the  gift  of  "his  grateful  friend, 
Royal  Stuart,"  that  hangs  side  by  side  with  the 
ancient  gun  which  shot  the  voracious  bird  of 
prey  now  adorning  a  city  museum,  labelled 
"The  Lammergeyer,  or  Bearded  Vulture,"  but 
which  in  the  West  Virginia  mountains  will  go 
down  to  history  as  the  Demon  of  Snaggle-Tooth 
Rock. 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT 
IN  CHICAGO 

Beating  a  Detective. 
BY  CHARLES  H.  DAY. 

~T\URING  the  travelling  seasons  of  1852  and 
*~*  1853,  Lewis  B.  Lent  was  a  partner  of  P.  T. 
Barnum,  and  manager  of  P.  T.  Barnum's 
American  Museum  and  Menagerie,  exhibiting, 
among  other  curiosities,  Gen.  Tom  Thumb,  the 
famous  dwarf,  and  ten  elephants.  Mr.  Lent,  by 
reason  of  this  experience,  was  a  great  believer 
in  a  herd  of  elephants  as  a  powerful  attraction 
with  a  show,  and  while  in  the  employ  of  Adam 
Forepaugh,  in  1879,  made  emphasis  of  the  fact 
that  his  employer  exhibited  "a  herd  of  twelve 

elephants." 

197 


198   AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

About  the  same  time  P.  T.  Barnum  and  his 
associates  also  awoke  to  the  fact  that  elephants 
in  large  numbers  were  a  profitable  attraction, 
and  in  the  first  years  of  the  eighties  both  Bar- 
num and  Forepaugh  accumulated  as  many  ele- 
phants as  they  could  purchase.  Both  managers 
being  possessed  of  enormous  capital,  the  matter 
of  price  was  of  little  account,  and  all  the  pur- 
chasable animals  at  home  and  abroad  were 
snapped  up  by  wire  as  fast  as  offered. 

As  to  elephants  of  size  the  great  rivals  truly 
"scored  heavily" — Barnum  got  Jumbo,  a  huge 
African;  and  Forepaugh  was  equally  fortunate 
in  Bolivar,  a  gigantic  Asiatic. 

Just  when  the  score  stood:  P.  T.  Barnum, 
twenty-five  elephants;  Adam  Forepaugh, 
twenty-five  elephants;  the  Philadelphia  show- 
man was  the  recipient  of  a  telegram  of  the 
greatest  importance: 

"Will  arrive  Chicago  Thursday  with  elephant;  twenty- 
five  hundred  dollars.  Do  you  want  it?  If  so,  wire  me  five 
hundred." 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO     199 

Did  the  wily  manager  want  it?  Adam  Fore- 
paugh  was  a  man  of  bulk  and  weight,  but  he 
made  a  rapid  departure  from  the  house  to  the 
stable  in  the  rear,  jumped  into  his  carriage,  and 
sent  his  favorite  horse  Dandy  speeding  to  his 
Chestnut  Street  office.  Arrived  at  the  office, 
the  manager  placed  the  despatch  before  his  con- 
fidential man,  with  the  remark: 

"We  must  have  that  elephant." 

Before  a  comment  could  be  made  the  vet- 
eran showman  displayed  his  characteristic 
shrewdness  as  he  continued: 

"Now,  look  here,  Charlie,  this  despatch  comes 
from  west  o'f  Chicago.  Mullet  has  been  out  in 
San  Francisco  after  sea-lions,  as  you  know,  but 
elephants  don't  come  into  market  in  San  Fran- 
cisco any  more  than  they  grow  on  trees;  and 
wire  him  five  hundred  dollars — I  guess  not!" 

The  old  showman  laughed  as  he  banged  his 
fist  on  the  desk. 


200  AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

"But  suppose  he  has  an  elephant?"  suggested 
the  representative. 

"If  it  was  any  one  else  that  had  the  elephant 
I  wouldn't  stop  at  the  five  hundred.  But  Mullet 
is  not  a  successor  to  George  Washington.  Mind, 
he  don't  say  a  word  about  the  seals — sea-lions, 
he  calls  them.  Don't  it  look  to  you  as  if  he  had 
made  a  failure  in  capturing  seals,  and,  being 
hard  pressed  for  funds,  wires  me  a  fairy  story 
about  an  elephant?" 

The  confidential  man  nodded,  and  the  doubt- 
ing showman  continued : 

"Don't  you  remember  how  smart  Mr.  Mullet 
took  in  all  the  showmen  in  the  country  in  the 
seal  trade;  how  he  told  each  manager  that  he 
was  selling  exclusively  to  him,  and  how  they 
all  bit,  myself  included,  and  everybody  in  the 
business  advertised  'the  first  and  only  sea-lions 
on  exhibition'?" 

The  recollection,  instead  of  arousing  the  ire 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO    201 

of  the  sturdy  manager,  brought  out  a  hearty 
laugh,  interrupted  by  the  remark: 

"But  Barnum— " 

"But  Barnum,  and  but  all  the  rest  of  them!" 
exclaimed  the  manager.  "Why,  Barnum  and 
every  manager,  big  and  little,  in  the  land  who 
has  got  five  hundred  has  received  a  despatch 
just  like  this." 

"And  who  gets  the  elephant?" 

"If  there  is  an  elephant,  the  first  party  that 
meets  Mullet  with  the  other  two  thousand  dol- 
lars, or  the  entire  amount,"  replied  Forepaugh. 
"I  would  send  a  man  to  Chicago — " 

"Too  late,"  said  the  representative.  "That 
despatch  was  sent  about  midnight,  en  route. 
Mullet  has  already  arrived  in  Chicago." 

"Ring  for  a  messenger!"  exclaimed  Fore- 
paugh. "I'll  have  the  elephant" — adding  the 
qualification — "if  there  is  one." 

As  his  representative  stepped  to  the  call  a 
broad  smile  came  over  the  old  gentleman's  big 


202   AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

face,  and  he  laughed  to  himself  and  at  himself 
'for  his  lack  of  thought. 

"Write,"  he  said,  in  his  usual  abrupt,  decisive 
way.  Then  the  manager  dictated: 

"  'Ben  Lusbie,  I  Washington  Street,  Chicago,  Illinois: 
I  wire  you  five  hundred  dollars.  Mullet  in  Chicago  with 
elephant.  Price,  twenty-five  hundred.  Pay  five  hundred 
to  bind  bargain.  Will  wire  balance  on  your  request.'  " 

"Never  thought  of  Ben,"  remarked  the  writer, 
as  he  laid  down  the  pen. 

"Pair  of  dummies  1"  observed  the  manager, 
grasping  the  despatch  and  bolting  from  the 
room,  and  resuming  his  seat  in  his  carriage  as 
speedily  as  he  was  able.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact 
that  Dandy  was  driven  down  the  street  at  a 
speed  forbidden  by  the  city  ordinance. 

For  the  reader's  benefit,  it  must  be  stated 
that  Ben  Lusbie  was  the  showman's  favorite 
treasurer,  the  famous  "Lightning  ticket-seller," 
who  readily  disposed  of  six  thousand  tickets  per 
hour  without  error,  and,  with  all  his  rapidity, 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO    203 

could  detect  a  counterfeit  coin  or  bill  at  a  touch 
or  a  glance.  Lusbie  was  very  much  in  love 
with  Chicago,  and  when  the  season  ended  he 
went  there  from  choice,  and  remained  until  sum- 
moned in  the  spring  to  return  to  duty. 

As  Adam  Forepaugh  drove  away  from  the 
telegraph  office  to  make  his  daily  visit  to  his 
winter  quarters  he  chuckled  to  himself : 

"Elephant  or  no  elephant,  I  won't  get  'fooled 
this  time.  Ben  Lusbie  is  just  as  cute  as  smart 
Mr.  Mullet  every  time." 

And  quite  right  was  Adam  Forepaugh  in  his 
estimate  of  the  little  man  who  had  handled  so 
many  millions  for  him.  With  elephants  on  his 
mind,  the  showman  on  his  arrival  and  departure 
from  the  winter  quarters  that  'forenoon  viewed 
his  long  line  of  elephants,  each  time  addressing 
himself  with  a  chuckle: 

"One  more  will  make  twenty-six." 

After  dinner  the  manager  returned  to  the 
quarters  by  the  way  of  his  office,  but  no  word 


204   AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

had  arrived  from  Lusbie;  but  that  fact  occa- 
sioned no  surprise,  and  only  the  reasonable  re- 
mark :  "Ben's  hunting  Mullet.  Don't  you  fear ; 
Ben's  all  right!" — a  sentiment  indorsed  by  the 
manager's  representative. 

Ben  Lusbie  had  taken  quick  action  imme- 
diately on  the  receipt  of  "the  Governor's"  des- 
patch and  money-order  telegram,  and,  having 
secured  the  five  hundred  dollars,  he  hastened 
to  search  for  Mullet,  with  no  idea  of  having  any 
difficulty  in  finding  him.  Appreciating  the  im- 
portance of  his  mission,  he  jumped  into  a  cab 
and  made  a  hasty  round  of  the  hotels  at  which 
the  man  with  an  elephant  would  be  most  apt 
to  stop,  but  without  finding  the  looked-for 
individual. 

But  Lusbie,  quite  alarmed,  saw  others,  whom 
he  did  not  wish  to  see  in  Chicago  at  that  very 
time,  whom  it  would  have  been  a  pleasure  to 
meet  under  other  circumstances.  At  the  vari- 
ous hotels  he  ran  across  representatives  or  part- 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO    205 

ners  or  proprietors  of  all  the  principal  tent 
shows  in  the  country,  and  he  did  not  need  to 
be  told  that  each  and  every  one  o'f  them  had 
five  hundred  dollars  in  his  pocket,  and  was,  like 
him,  looking  for  Mullet.  Resolved  not  to  be 
beaten,  Lusbie  stopped  for  neither  dinner  nor 
lunch,  and  by  the  supper-hour  he  was  half  fam- 
ished, and  the  cabman  had  driven  his  horse  to 
a  standstill.  Weary  and  hungry  and  quite 
baffled  by  his  lack  of  success,  he  wired  his  man- 
ager, in  a  sarcastic  vein : 

"All  the  managers  in  the  country  here  looking  for  Mullet, 
and  can't  find  him ;  neither  can  I." 

When  Adam  Forepaugh  read  Ben's  despatch 
he  was  much  amused,  and  remarked,  with  a 
hearty  laugh:  "Just  imagine  all  those  fellows 
with  ready  money  in  their  pockets  hot-foot  after 
Mullet  and  the  elephant!"  Then  he  explained, 
conjecturing  correctly:  "You  see,  Mr.  Mullet, 
as  usual,  has  made  one  of  his  exclusive  sales  to 


206   AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

everybody  in  the  business  that  has  the  price,  and 
now  he  and  the  elephant  are  in  hiding." 

The  proposition  appeared  so  ridiculous  to 
the  manager's  representative  that  he  remarked, 
with  some  sarcasm: 

"Where  would  you  hide  an  elephant?" 

"Ask  Mullet,"  replied  Forepaugh.  "Lusbie 
and  the  rest  of  the  hunters  don't  know." 

Refreshed  with  a  good  meal,  Ben  Lusbie  sat 
himself  down  and  gave  up  a  half-hour's  time  to 
good  hard  thinking  and  planning.  The  day  had 
been  spent,  and  developed  only  the  fact  that 
numerous  others  were  in  pursuit  of  the  elephant 
and  its  owner,  and,  as  he  concluded  aright,  to 
no  avail. 

"After  the  elephant  is  sold  to  its  first  dis- 
coverer, Mullet  will  turn  up,"  said  Ben,  all  to 
himself. 

Ben  Lusbie  had  been  around  menageries  long 
enough  to  know  that  an  elephant  must  be  housed 
at  once  in  the  winter,  and,  further,  that  imme- 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO     207 

diately  on  arrival  Mullet  must  have  stabled  the 
animal,  //  he  had  one. 

"If  he  had  one,"  said  Ben,  out  loud,  thereby 
expressing  his  doubts  of  Mr.  Mullet's  veracity 
and  the  possibility  that  any  one  would  ship  an 
elephant  across  the  continent  in  the  winter. 

That  night  Lusbie  pursued  his  investigations, 
unrewarded  and  quite  in  despair;  he  called  in 
at  the  office  of  the  detective  agency  and  com- 
municated the  object  of  his  search  to  William 
A.  Pinkerton,  a  particular  friend  of  Manager 
Forepaugh — as  detectives  from  the  Pinkerton 
agency  always  accompanied  the  big  show  on  its 
tours  to  protect  its  patrons  from  pickpockets 
and  prevent  the  operations  of  professional 
thieves  in  the  cities  visited.  The  chief  of  the 
detectives  greeted  the  perplexed  Lusbie  with  a 
cheery: 

"Well,  Ben,  what  have  you  got  on  your 
mind?" 

"An  elephant,"  answered  Lusbie,  solemnly; 


208   AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

and  then  he  unburdened  his  woes  and  explained 
the  situation. 

The  relator  was  aggravated,  the  listener 
highly  amused;  Pinkerton  laughed  heartily. 

"The  idea  of  not  being  able  to  find  an  ele- 
phant!" 

"Funny,  ain't  it?"  snapped  Ben,  who  was 
fatigued  and  a  little  out  of  sorts.  "I  chased  all 
over  the  city  to-day,  without  a  morsel  to  eat, 
and  to  no  purpose." 

"Beats  elephant-hunting  in  the  jungles,  eh?" 
persisted  the  annoying  sleuth,  who,  noting  the 
frown  on  Lusbie's  face,  dropped  his  joking  and 
said,  "Well,  Ben,  my  boy,  anything  that  I  can 
do  for  you  or  Adam  command  me,  and  between 
us  I  guess  we  can  turn  up  the  elephant — " 

"Or  Mullet,"  put  in  Lusbie. 

"Then  you  doubt  the  elephant?"  inquired 
Pinkerton. 

"Oh  no,"  answered  Ben,  smiling  for  the  first 
time  during  the  interview.  "I  doubt  Mullet." 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO    209 

"Ah,  I  see,"  observed  Pinkerton — "George 
Washington  couldn't." 

"It's  second  nature  to  Mullet." 

"Ah!"  exclaimed  the  sleuth  to  his  visitor, 
drawing  his  chair  closer  and  speaking  in  an 
undertone.  "Now,  Ben,  if  there  is  an  elephant 
in  the  case,  it  ought  to  be  an  easy  thing  to  find 
it.  Mullet  has  been  repeating  the  seal  trans- 
action over  again,  only  this  time  he  has  not 
enough  to  go  round." 

Lusbie  and  Pinkerton  both  laughed,  and  then 
the  detective  went  on  to  say: 

"An  elephant  in  the  city  ought  to  be  able  to 
announce  its  own  presence— 

"Hasn't  yet,"  interjected  Ben,  spitefully. 

"Not  to  you,"  retorted  Pinkerton;  and  then 
he  resumed:  "I'll  send  out  and  have  the  word 
passed  by  our  night  patrol  to  be  on  the  lookout 
for  an  elephant,  then  I'll  issue  an  order  to  all 
the  force  on  duty  in  Chicago  to  keep  an  open 


210    AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

eye,  and  in  the  mean  time  I'll  take  a  look 
through  the  jungles  myself." 

"Thank  you,"  responded  Lusbie;  "I'd  rather 
forfeit  a  season's  salary  than  miss  that  elephant." 

"I  know  just  how  you  feel  about  it,  my  good 
fellow,"  said  Pinkerton,  cutting  off  further 
remark. 

After  Lusbie  had  departed,  the  head  of  the 
detective  bureau,  true  to  his  promise,  issued  the 
necessary  orders  to  report  at  once  the  location 
of  the  elephant  upon  discovery,  and  then,  as  he 
himself  described  it,  he  hurried  out  into  the 
night  to  search  "the  jungles." 

At  noon  the  next  day  Ben  Lusbie  again  turned 
up  at  Pinkerton's  office  and  found  the  chief  at 
his  post.  Neither  spoke  a  word,  only  looked 
at  each  other  and  shook  their  heads.  Lusbie 
was  grim,  Pinkerton  smiling. 

"Funniest  thing  I  ever  experienced,"  laughed 
Pinkerton. 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO     211 

"Oh,  it's  very  funny,"  sighed  Ben,  lugu- 
briously; "too  funny  for  anything.  Let's  cry!" 

"How  about  the  other  pursuers?"  asked  Pin- 
kerton,  with  professional  instinct. 

"Oh,  they  are  growing  gray  every  hour,"  an- 
swered Lusbie.  "I've  seen  them  on  my  rounds, 
and  they  are  fully  as  unhappy  as  I  am." 

"How  consoling!"  added  Pinkerton,  who  de- 
lighted in  hectoring  the  diligent  but  unrewarded 
Lusbie.  As  Ben's  face  showed  a  shadow,  the 
sleuth  changed  his  strain  and  cheered — "We 
may  be  happy  yet." 

One  thing  Ben  Lusbie  had  done  that  morning 
which  he  had  not  communicated  to  the  detec- 
tive. It  came  to  him  like  an  inspiration  that 
the  boys  of  the  telegraph  and  messenger  service 
were  as  smart  specimens  of  humanity  as  could 
well  be  found  or  imagined.  Why  not  employ 
them  in  the  search  for  the  elephant?  No  sooner 
had  he  asked  himself  the  question  than  he  hied 
himself  to  the  main  office,  and  caused  the  man- 


212    AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

ager  to  announce  by  bulletin  in  the  inner  office 
that  an  elephant  was  very  much  wanted,  and  to 
the  boy  first  divulging  its  location  would  be 
presented  a  ten-dollar  bill. 

After  doing  this  much,  Lusbie  raged  up  and 
down  Chicago  with  much  wear  and  tear  to 
horseflesh  as  well  as  to  his  temper.  Ben  was  a 
nervous,  high-strung  little  man,  and  fully  de- 
voted to  the  interests  of  Adam  Forepaugh,  and 
his  lack  of  success  in  so  important  a  mission 
annoyed  him  exceedingly.  As  he  had  no  one 
to  talk  to  confidentially  during  the  hours  of  his 
fruitless  search,  he  repeatedly  caught  himself 
repeating  aloud : 

"The  idea  of  an  elephant  in  Chicago  and  no 
one  can  find  it!" 

During  that  afternoon  Lusbie  arrived  at  a 
conclusion,  which  had  the  weight  of  probability 
to  favor  it,  and  he  telegraphed  his  employer  in 
accordance  with  his  latest  theory: 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO     213 

"Mullet  and  the  elephant  must  have  gone  East ;  no  tidings 
here.  The  other  hunters  still  camped  on  the  trail." 

If  a  man  ever  appreciated  a  joke  or  had  a 
keen  sense  of  the  humorous,  it  was  Adam  Fore- 
paugh,  and  when  he  read  of  the  enemy  and  the 
emissaries  "camped  on  the  trail,"  he  braced 
back  in  his  chair  and  laughed  heartily,  express- 
ing his  faith  in  the  irrepressible  and  indomitable 
Lusbie  by  remarking,  "Those  other  fellows  can't 
hold  a  candle  to  Ben,"  and  then  he  dismissed 
Ben's  theory.  "Oh  no,  Mullet  hasn't  brought 
an  elephant  past  Chicago  in  the  winter.  Not 
he;  the  trip  would  be  too  risky;  and  why  should 
he,  with  so  many  standing  ready  in  Chicago  to 
buy  the  animal?  You  hear  me,  Charlie? — he's 
waiting  to  tire  out  some  of  the  watchers  rather 
than  to  face  them  all,  and  then  he'll  turn  up, 
and  the  first  one  that  finds  the  elephant  will  find 
Mullet.  Just  you  telegraph  Ben  to  stick." 

Thereupon  the  representative  hurriedly  wrote 
this  message : 


2i4    AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

"Do  not  relax  your  vigilance;  believe  Mullet  to  be  in 
Chicago." 

Now  Adam  Forepaugh,  true  to  his  Pennsyl- 
vania Dutch  extraction,  could  not  pronounce  vf 
and,  running  his  eyes  over  the  message,  he  re- 
marked, "  'Do  not  relax  your  wigilance' — that's 
good." 

When  Ben  Lusbie  received  the  telegram  he, 
recalling  the  old  gentleman's  peculiarity  of  pro- 
nunciation, read  it  aloud  to  himself  alone,  "Do 
not  relax  your  wigilance." 

Just  then  a  very  small  boy  came  up  and  gave 
a  tip  of  his  cap  in  salute,  and  asked,  "Is  this 
Mr.  Lusbie?" 

One  glance  at  the  brass  buttons  and  the  suit 
of  blue  made  Ben's  heart  bump. 

"Yes,  my  boy,"  responded  Lusbie,  hoping  for 
the  best. 

The  diminutive  lad  doffed  his  cap,  and,  with 
a  shy  manner  that  quite  convulsed  as  much  as 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO     215 

it  delighted  Ben,  quaintly  remarked,  "Mr.  Lus- 
bie,  you  owe  me  ten  dollars." 

"Have  you  got  the  elephant?"  exclaimed  and 
queried  Lusbie. 

"No,"  replied  the  pygmy  Mercury;  "I  didn't 
bring  him  with  me  because  the  express  charges 
were  not  paid." 

"Express  charges?"  interrogated  Lusbie. 

"Yes;  it's  a  tiny  fellow  in  a  box  at  the  ex- 
press office,  and  the  express  folks  are  in  a  worry 
about  it,  as  they  say  it  is  a  nuisance  in  the 
place,  and — " 

That  was  as  far  as  the  boy  got  in  the  relation. 
Lusbie  seized  the  boy  by  the  hand  and  rushed 
him  out-of-doors  and  along  Washington  Street 
to  State  as  fast  as  they  could  run.  At  State 
Street  they  caught  a  carriage,  and  soon  rolled 
up  to  the  office  of  the  American  Express  Com- 
pany, where  they  found  the  much-looked-for 
Mullet  in  the  very  act  of  paying  the  express 
charges. 


216   AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

"Hello,  Ben!"  said  Mullet,  rather  sheepishly. 

"Hello  yourself!"  exclaimed  Ben.  "Here's 
your  money  for  the  elephant — five  hundred  dol- 
lars to  bind  the  bargain." 

"But— but— "  began  Mullet. 

"No  buts  in  the  case,"  persisted  Lusbie, 
thrusting  the  money  into  his  possession.  "Give 
me  a  sheet  of  paper,  Mr.  Agent,  and  I'll  write 
a  receipt  for  it,  and  if  the  animal  dies  before 
morning  it  will  be  Adam  Forepaugh's  loss." 

The  express  agent  supplied  the  sheet  of  paper, 
Lusbie  wrote  the  receipt,  and  Mullet  clasped 
the  roll  of  bank-notes  with  one  hand  as  he  signed 
with  the  other. 

"I'll  be  here  for  a  week,"  said  Mullet,  after 
affixing  his  autograph.  "The  old  man  can  send 
me  the  two  thousand  here." 

"Agreed,"  said  Ben,  as  Mullet  slipped  out. 

Then  Lusbie  and  the  messenger-boy  viewed 
the  elephant.  Lusbie  did  not  faint,  but  he 
caught  his  breath  and  gasped  as  he  sat  down 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO     217 

on  a  large  box  containing  the  smallest  elephant 
he  had  ever  set  eyes  upon,  and  during  his  long 
experience  in  the  show  business  he  had  seen 
many  a  one.  Ben  looked  quizzically  at  the 
mite  of  a  messenger-boy,  and  then  remarked: 

"Well,  my  hearty,  all  three  of  us  are  in  the 
midget  class — man,  boy,  and  elephant." 

With  that  he  put  his  hand  into  his  pocket  and 
produced  a  ten-dollar  bill — the  messenger-boy's 
reward  for  the  discovery  of  the  elephant. 

"Thank  you,"  exclaimed  the  boy.  "Won't 
mother  be  happy!" 

The  boy  that  thought  of  his  mother  in  the 
hour  of  good  fortune  interested  Lusbie,  who  ex- 
claimed, heartily: 

"Good  luck  to  your  mother!" 

"It  is  good  luck  to  my  mother,  sir,"  responded 
the  boy,  making  sure  that  the  bank-note  was 
safe  deep  down  in  his  pocket.  "Father's  dead, 
sir,  and  there's  two  smaller  than  me.  And  only 
to  think,  sir,  that  it  was  this  morning  that  I 


218    AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

heard  mother  saying  to  the  woman  down-stairs, 
'If  I  only  had  ten  dollars  it  would  take  me  out 
of  debt  and  put  me  on  my  feet.7  When  I  saw 
the  notice  at  the  office  I  felt  that  I  was  going  to 
get  that  ten,  and  now  I've  got  it  in  my  pocket. 
It's  a  miracle;  indeed  it  is." 

"It  is  a  miracle;  it's  a  miracle  that  you  or 
any  one  else  found  that"  As  Lusbie  spoke  he 
indicated  the  cause  of  his  great  anxiety,  now 
happily  relieved. 

Lusbie  at  once  notified  the  express  agent  to 
ship  the  elephant  to  Adam  Forepaugh  at  Phila- 
delphia, and  hastily  arranged  for  the  keeper 
who  had  accompanied  it,  and  had  been  sent  in 
by  Mullet  to  continue  on  the  journey.  Then  he 
turned  to  the  messenger-boy,  whom  he  had  de- 
tained, and  they  re-entered  the  railway  car- 
riage and  drove  to  the  telegraph  office,  where, 
in  quite  Lusbiean  language,  the  manager  was 
informed : 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO     219 

"Got  elephant.  Smallest  ever  saw.  You  can  wear  it  for 
a  watch  charm.  Mail  draft  for  balance." 

The  next  day  Lusbie  was  in  receipt  of  an 
equally  characteristic  despatch  in  reply: 

"Don't  care  how  small  it  is;  it  counts  on  the  bills  and  in 
the  procession.  Draft  sent  to  your  order." 

When  Lusbie  returned  to  the  carriage  after 
sending  the  telegram  he  asked  of  his  new 
acquaintance: 

"Where  do  you  live,  sonny?" 

The  boy  replied,  and  Lusbie  returned: 

"Then  I'll  see  you  and  your  ten  dollars  safe 
home." 

And  away  went  the  carriage  the  moment  the 
driver  got  the  direction.  And  so  rapidly  that 
it  was  not  long  before  the  vehicle  drew  up  at 
the  curb,  as  the  small  boy  therein  announced: 

"Here  we  are." 

Ben  Lusbie  recognized  the  location.  He  was 
surrounded  by  the  abodes  of  the  very  poor — 


220    AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO 

the  honest  poor — but  not  within  the  precincts 
of  the  haunts  of  crime.  The  lad's  mother  was 
almost  alarmed  when  such  a  grand  vehicle 
dashed  up  to  the  door,  but  she  was  reassured 
when  she  saw  her  boy's  face  brighten  up  with 
smiles  and  his  eyes  beaming  with  delight. 

Lusbie  let  the  boy  tell  the  story  of  his  good 
fortune,  and,  as  he  was  anxious  to  finish  it  with 
the  climax  of  a  ten-dollar  bill  in  his  mother's 
hand,  it  wras  an  exceedingly  short  story. 

The  boy  laughed,  the  mother  cried,  and  Ben 
Lusbie  brushed  away  a  tear  with  one  hand  as 
he  fished  up  a  roll  of  bills  from  his  pocket  and 
unwound  a  ten-dollar  note  and  handed  it  to  the 
boy,  saying : 

"I  don't  think  I  could  have  faced  the  Gov- 
ernor if  I  had  missed  the  elephant.  That  is  for 
you  to  start  a  bank  account,  or  do  with  it  as 
your  mother  thinks  best." 

aOh,  I  didn't  do  much,"  said  the  modest  lad. 
"You  and  the  other  gentlemen  only  overlooked 


AN  ELEPHANT-HUNT  IN  CHICAGO     221 

him  because,  just  like  me,  he  is  such  a  little 
fellow." 

When  Ben  Lusbie  repeated  the  discovery  and 
the  observation  of  the  discoverer  to  his  detec- 
tive friend,  Pinkerton  remarked: 

"The  next  time  you  start  me  out  on  an  ele- 
phant-hunt in  Chicago,  furnish  me  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  beast  with  the  rest  of  the  informa- 
tion." 

"Or  get  a  boy  to  help  you,"  added  Ben  Lusbie, 
delighted  at  the  great  sleuth's  very  evident 
discomfiture. 


THUG  AND  TIGER 

And  the  Cobra  in  the  Path 
BY  G.  T.  FERRIS. 


anchor-chains  had  scarcely  ceased 
clanking  through  the  hawse-pipe  of  the 
Seringapatam  Indiaman  in  Madras  Roads  when 
Frank  Raymond  beset  the  captain  about  going 
ashore.  The  waves  still  tossed  their  manes  in 
the  open  roadstead,  and  the  grizzled  seaman 
pointed  to  the  beach,  where  the  sur'f  crashed 
with  fury,  though  the  wind  was  dying  with  the 
low-setting  sun.  The  boy  looked  beyond  the 
fringe  of  foam  on  the  squat  and  squalid  city  (it 
was  the  Madras  of  1844)  with  a  little  sinking 
of  the  heart.  His  fancy  had  been  teeming  with 
the  vaguely  remembered  splendors  of  the  im- 
perial city  of  Delhi.  Frank  gulped  the  present 


222 


THUG  AND  TIGER  223 

reality  with  a  sigh,  and  thought  the  night's  wait 
would  be  long  before  he  should  see  his  father. 

When  the  copper-colored  sun  climbed  above 
the  fog-bank  which  always  lowers  in  the  morn- 
ing when  the  southeast  monsoon  blows,  surf- 
boats  had  come  off,  for  the  landing  was  now 
safe.  The  boy  and  his  luggage  were  shot  ashore 
through  the  still  boiling  foam,  when  he  heard 
a  familiar  accent  among  the  howling  Lascar 
boatmen : 

"I  say,  my  young  friend,  is  there  a  boy  named 
Raymond  among  the  Seringapatam  passengers? 
Why,  surely  it's  young  Frank  himself.  Don't 
you  remember  Mr.  Grant,  once  your  father's 
clerk  at  Delhi?" 

A  bronzed  Englishman  shook  his  hand  hard 
as  Frank  burst  out:  "Where  is  Sir  Charles? 
Hasn't  he  come  down  from  Hyderabad?" 

"No;  he  can't  leave  the  Residency  now.  But 
he  has  sent  an  escort  of  native  servants.  Your 
bearers  are  engaged,  and  all's  agog  for  the  start 


224  THUG  AND  TIGER 

when  your  shore-legs  are  comfortably  stretched. 
But  come  along.  There's  a  thick  letter  for  you 
at  my  office,  and  I'm  sure  you're  dying  to  read 
it.  After  that  we'll  go  out  to  the  bungalow  for 
early  tiffin.  I  suppose  you  breakfasted  aboard." 
Frank  was  soon  deep  in  his  father's  letter: 

MY  DEAR  SON, — It  frets  me  no  end  that  I  can't  meet  you 
at  Madras.  My  anxiety  to  see  you  has  been  so  keen  that  it 
decided  me  to  have  you  spend  a  year  with  me  in  India  before 
going  to  Woolwich.  It  will  give  you  the  chance,  too,  to 
wrestle  with  Hindustani,  a  study  of  great  value  to  an  English 
officer,  under  a  native  pandit,  and  to  learn  it  through  the 
ear  as  well.  You  will  make  the  journey  up  country  in 
charge  of  my  head  servant,  but  he  and  the  two  others  are 
trusty.  The  route  is  quite  safe,  otherwise  I  should  have  sent 
down  a  Sepoy  escort.  "Thuggery"  1  has  been  torn  up  by  the 
roots  in  the  Deccan,  and  the  "Dacoit"  bands  have  been 

lThe  Thugs  were  a  murderous  caste  in  India  who  worshipped 
the  Goddess  Kali,  the  consort  of  Shiva,  the  God  of  Destruction, 
by  committing  assassination  as  a  holy  sacrifice.  The  will  of  the 
deity  was  revealed  to  them  by  omens,  and  they  often  followed 
their  victims  hundreds  of  miles  with  tireless  patience.  Robbery 
and  murder  were  religious  rites  with  these  fanatics,  otherwise 
known  as  "Phansigars,"  or  "noose  operators."  They  used  no 
weapon  but  the  noose,  in  which  they  had  extraordinary  skill. 
They  were  all  but  exterminated'by  a  determined  effort  of  British 
authority  between  the  years  1828  and  1835,  but  the  caste  has 
survived,  it  is  believed,  even  to  the  present  day. 


THUG  AND  TIGER  225 

smashed.  I  myself  took  some  part  in  destroying  the  Thugs 
when  I  was  at  Delhi.  I  fancy  you  will  have  little  use  for 
the  "double-barrel"  I  send  down,  except  to  war  on  jungle 
fowls.  As  for  his  royal  Majesty,  "King  Stripes,"  if  Chunda- 
Singe  lets  you  within  gunshot  of  a  tiger  I'll  strip  his  black 
hide  off,  the  rascal.  You  won't  like  the  looks  of  Burrao, 
who  is  a  late  acquisition.  But  the  fellow  has  shown  such 
keen  wits  that  I  have  forgiven  his  phiz,  which  is  as  ugly  as 
a  cobra's  head.  Don't  think  of  that.  It's  only  skin-deep, 
and  you  can  never  read  a  native  by  his  face.  Chunda  is  as 
true  as  steel  (you'll  remember  him),  and  has  my  full  in- 
structions. 

Native  intrigue  simmering  at  the  Nizam's  court  ties  me 
here.  There  is  a  war  with  the  Sikhs  on  our  hands,  and  their 
envoys  are  burrowing  everywhere  in  the  Deccan.  It  takes 
a  sharp  watch,  but  I  am  smashing  their  serpent's  eggs. 
Trouble  has  been  brewing  ever  since  the  war  in  Scinde  last 
year.  I  suppose  Sir  Charles  Napier's  witty  report  of  the 
campaign,  which  puzzled  bluff  old  Sir  Hugh  Gough  at  head- 
quarters so  much — "Peccain"  "I  have  sinned"  (Scinde)  — 
must  have  raised  a  jolly  good  laugh  at  home.  It  beats 
Cesar's  "Veni,  Vidi,  Vici." 

I  have  so  many  things  to  say  that  I  think  I'll  wait  till  you 
get  here.  It  makes  me  glad  that,  unlike  most  Anglo-Indian 
boys,  you're  as  stout  and  lusty  as  though  your  life  had  not 
begun  under  the  scorching  skies  of  the  East.  Grant  will 
take  good  care  of  you  at  Madras,  but  don't  let  him  keep  you 
too  long.  Your  loving  father, 

CHARLES  RAYMOND. 


226  THUG  AND  TIGER 

With  this  letter  came  strict  directions  for  his 
habits  of  life  during  the  journey  of  three  hun- 
dred miles  in  the  sweltering  air  of  an  Indian 
September.  Frank  was  hot  for  a  start  the  next 
morning,  in  spite  of  his  host's  pleading.  He 
had  scarcely  entered  Mr.  Grant's  compound, 
rioting  with  thousands  of  blossoms,  when  two 
white-clad  figures  salaamed  to  the  earth. 

"Hullo,  Chunda!  I  should  have  known  your 
honest  'face  anywhere,"  the  English  boy  said, 
with  a  hearty  squeeze  of  his  hand.  "And  this 
is  Burrao?"  scanning  an  aspect  which  justified 
his  father's  description.  A  sloping  forehead 
rose  obliquely  at  the  sides  to  a  great  width,  and 
the  deep-set  eyes  had  a  filmy  look  as  if  they 
never  winked  or  slept.  The  teeth  in  shape  and 
whiteness  were  like  the  teeth  of  a  hound,  and 
the  skin  was  tattooed  in  a  minute  pattern  of  faint 
blue.  The  clean-shaven  bronze  skull,  for  he 
wore  no  turban,  made  these  things  more  start- 
ling. 


THUG  AND  TIGER  227 

"Burrao  kisses  the  young  sahib's  feet,  and 
wishes  health  and  long  years,"  the  native  said, 
in  a  musical  voice,  unmasking  all  his  teeth. 
There  was  something  reptilian  in  the  look,  and 
the  smile  made  it  none  the  less  'forbidding.  Mr. 
Grant  whispered  to  Frank: 

"Sir  Charles  believes  in  Burrao,  but  I 
wouldn't  trust  that  nigger  as  far  as  I  would  a 
pariah  dog,  unless  old  Chunda  were  by.  That 
mouth  of  his  is  like  a  graveyard  full  of  tomb- 
stones." 

The  stars  had  not  faded  next  morning  when 
the  little  party  was  on  its  way.  The  scheme  of 
travel  involved  rest  during  the  intense  heat  of 
the  day.  Government  rest-houses,  about  seven 
miles  apart  on  this  important  route,  provided 
food  and  sleeping-quarters.  Relays  o'f  carriers 
had  been  arranged,  and  on  either  side  of  the 
road-track  trotted  lines  of  beaters,  brandishing 
blazing  knots,  clashing  cymbals,  and  bawling 
discordant  cries  to  frighten  any  prowling  beast. 


228  THUG  AND  TIGER 

The  sides  of  the  palanquin  were  closely  guarded 
by  Chunda  and  Burrao.  This  night  journeying 
was  big  with  the  romance  of  the  unknown.  Shut 
in  by  the  gauze  netting  of  his  litter  from  the  bites 
and  stings  of  an  army  of  flying  things,  his  fancy 
tried  to  pierce  the  bowels  of  the  jungle  on  either 
side  of  the  torch-light  glitter,  the  black  ambush 
where  giant  cats  stalked  on  feet  of  velvet, 
hungry  for  life  of  man  or  beast.  Even  amid 
the  clatter  o'f  his  torch-carriers  the  rustling  of  an 
innumerable  footfall  swelled  like  the  distant 
hum  of  the  sea.  The  steam  of  odor  which  the 
forest  sweated  out  of  its  rank  life  almost  stifled 
him.  It  was  all  so  strange  and  alluring  that  he 
would  not  have  missed  it  for  the  world. 

It  was  now  the  morning  of  the  seventh  day 
of  their  journey,  which  had  pierced  now  a 
region  of  jungle,  now  open  and  cultivated  fields 
dotted  with  villages.  The  rest-house  is  only  a 
little  distance  away,  and  the  road  winds  in 
curves  through  a  grove  of  peepul-trees.  This 


THUG  AND  TIGER  229 

grove  is  sacred  to  the  god  Vishnu,  and  near  a 
great  banyan  still  remain  the  crumbling  frag- 
ments of  an  ancient  temple.  Frank,  weary  of 
his  litter,  had  sprung  to  his  feet  to  stretch  his 
cramped  legs  with  a  run.  Only  Burrao  remains 
near  him  as  he  goes,  for  Chunda  has  hastened 
forward  to  the  rest-house  to  give  necessary 
orders.  The  boy  stops,  glued  in  his  tracks. 
Something  slips  out  o'f  a  bush  before  him  and 
rears  itself  two  feet  high  from  a  squirming 
brown  coil.  Wicked  eyes  bright  as  diamonds 
watch  their  victim,  and  the  swollen  hood  with 
its  spectacle  mark  is  ready  to  burst  with  anger 
and  venom.  The  boy  knows  the  sign  of  the 
cobra,  the  deadliest  serpent  of  India.  Not  even 
a  slight  stick  in  his  hand,  it  needs  but  the  wink- 
ing of  an  eyelash  to  hasten  the  end.  And  facing 
that  spectre  of  death,  the  vagrant  fancy  shoots 
across  him  that  the  head  of  the  snake  shapes  the 
outline  of  a  human  head  which  had  glided  for 
a  week  by  the  side  of  his  litter.  So  he  awaits 


230  THUG  AND  TIGER 

the  stroke,  when  there  is  the  swift  leap  of  an- 
other snake  darting  through  the  air  in  the  sem- 
blance of  a  long,  black  thong,  which  loops  itself 
about  the  cobra's  swollen  throat,  and  drags  it 
writhing  through  the  dust. 

"Where  is  it,  Chunda,  Burrao,  the  snake  that 
killed  that  hideous  thing?  How  near  I  was  to 
death,  and  such  a  vile  death!  And  yet  was  it 
a  snake,  or  what  was  it?  Oh,  my  poor  father!" 
said  Frank,  incoherently,  as  he  found  himself 
supported  on  Burrao's  knee,  for  he  had  suddenly 
gone  to  pieces  when  the  cobra  was  killed. 
Chunda  had  now  come  up,  his  brown  cheek 
grown  chalklike  as  he  saw  the  big  serpent  quiv- 
ering in  the  dust  with  a  broken  neck. 

Burrao  flattened  himself  on  the  ground  in  the 
posture  of  adoration.  "Look,  young  sahib,"  and 
there  was  a  solemn  music  in  his  voice  as  he 
pointed  to  the  ruined  temple  and  its  defaced 
idol.  "Holy  Vishnu  loves  the  Burra  Sahib, 
your  father,  and  saves  the  son  for  a  better  fate. 


THUG  AND  TIGER  231 

It  was  the  snake  of  the  god  that  killed  the 
wicked  naga."  Chunda  heard  this  explanation 
with  a  look  of  wonder.  Heathen  though  he  was, 
and  a  faithful  believer  in  his  country's  gods,  he 
knew  too  much  about  the  habits  and  varieties 
of  the  serpent  race  which  swarmed  in  that  snake- 
infested  land  to  credit  Burrao's  pious  theory. 
His  eyes  roved  from  the  cobra  to  the  man  as  he 
stood  in  deep  thought;  then  a  flash  of  fear  swept 
over  his  face  like  that  with  which  he  had  first 
seen  the  venomous  reptile.  But  whatever  it 
was,  the  cunning  of  his  people  made  him  wear 
a  mask.  He  smiled  a  smooth  assent  with : 

"Burrao  is  surely  right,  Sahib  Frank;  the 
snake  was  the  black  water-snake  sacred  to 
Vishnu,  the  preserver  and  life  of  the  world.  His 
blessing  is  on  us  and  our  journey." 

The  light-hearted  Frank  soon  forgot  the 
deadly  peril  he  had  escaped,  and  chatted  gayly 
with  his  attendants  as  he  swung  along  day  after 
day  in  his  palanquin.  He  seemed,  indeed,  to 


232  THUG  AND  TIGER 

have  survived  his  first  dislike  of  Burrao,  though 
Chunda  kept  incessant  watch,  and  scarcely  per- 
mitted the  lad  out  of  his  sight,  while  his  stolen 
looks  at  his  fellow-Hindu  were  those  of  one 
studying  a  mystery  about  which  his  mind  was 
divided.  If  the  other  suspected  he  was  mis- 
trusted, look  or  word  gave  no  sign.  One  morn- 
ing at  the  rest-house  Chunda  said: 

"Burrao  has  gone  to  the  Burra  Sahib  to  an- 
nounce his  son  is  near  at  hand.  To-morrow  we 
shall  see  the  sun  flash  on  the  minarets  of  the 
Jama  Masjid.  If  you  wish  to  shoot  to-nightr 
Sahib  Frank,  the  jungle  along  the  nullah  is  full 
of  fowl.  To-morrow  we  shall  ascend  amid  the 
hills." 

So  about  sunset,  when  the  withering  heat  o'f 
the  day  was  done,  Frank  sauntered  with  his  gun 
along  the  edge  of  the  nullah,  now  flowing  a 
shallow  current  of  some  swiftness.  Chunda  had 
been  detained  at  the  rest-house  a  quarter  of  a 


THUG  AND  TIGER  233 

mile    away,    intending    to    follow    in    a    few 
minutes. 

But  an  English  boy  walking  on  the  bank  was 
not  the  only  hunter  afield  for  game  that  even- 
ing. There  were  two  others  not  far  away,  each 
tracking  his  quarry,  the  most  terrible  and  skilful 
hunters  of  India.  Within  a  matted  belt  of 
thicket  a  few  yards  above  crouched  a  lithe 
brown  body  naked  to  the  waist-cloth.  The  left 
hand  held  the  coils  of  a  flexible  leather  thong, 
the  right  its  open  noose  sliding  on  a  leaden  ring. 
And  the  eyes,  burning  with  the  passion  of  mur- 
der, were  the  eyes  of  Burrao  the  Thug.  As 
Frank  moved  on,  the  hidden  figure  glided  with 
noiseless  foot'f all  toward  a  space  where  the  thick 
of  the  bush  thinned  out,  and  there  was  nothing 
to  catch  the  fatal  swing  of  the  noose.  On  a 
parallel  line,  still  deeper  in  the  jungle,  moved 
two  round  lights,  like  candle  flames,  but  of 
changing  tints  between  topaz  and  emerald 
which  baffled  naming.  Thicket  and  deepening 


234  THUG  AND  TIGER 

dusk  hid  all  beside.  That  hunter,  too,  was  silent 
as  the  tomb  as  he  stalked  the  strangler  and  the 
strangler  stalked  the  boy. 

"It's  strange  I  don't  get  a  shot,"  said  Frank 
to  himself,  for  no  birds  had  risen  to  his  gun. 
"Chunda  fancied  the  place  full  of  game,  and 
I've  scarcely  fired  old  'Brown  Barrels'  since 
leaving  Madras.  But  no  matter;  I  shall  soon 
see  the  dear  old  dad.  Why,  Burrao — what  a 
beastly  face  that  fellow  has,  to  be  sure!  yet  he 
seems  a  right  good  chap — will  be  with  him  to- 
morrow morning  with  the  good  news !" 

He  had  come  to  the  edge  of  the  open  land 
which  sloped  up  from  the  bank.  The  babbling 
of  the  shallow  stream  recalled  the  music  of  an 
English  brook.  Out  of  the  jungle  'fringe  a  dark 
form  darted  to  its  height,  like  an  arrow  drawn 
to  its  head.  The  sinewy  arm  was  thrown  back 
for  the  cast,  while  his  fierce  eye  measured  the 
distance  with  practised  skill.  That  moment 
Frank's  whistling  was  cut  short  and  his  blood 


THUG  AND  TIGER  235 

ran  cold.  The  jungle  trembled  with  the  hoarse 
roar  of  a  charging  tiger,  a  note  indescribably 
terrible  even  to  those  who  have  heard  it  often. 
Frenk  wheeled  mechanically  under  the  shock  of 
the  sound,  and  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  huge  black- 
and-yellow-banded  beast  dragging  off  a  human 
body  at  a  trot,  and  something  made  him  think 
of  Burrao. 

"Sahib  Frank!  Sahib  Frank!"  he  heard 
Chunda's  voice  shouting,  in  an  accent  of  pierc- 
ing distress.  And  when  he  came,  Frank  pointed 
to  the  ragged  and  broken  bushes. 

"The  tiger  carried  off  some  one  skulking 
there,  and  he  looked  like  Burrao!"  he  panted, 
for  the  beating  of  his  heart  almost  choked  him. 

Chunda  looked  about  with  a  keen  eye,  and 
picked  up  the  leather  thong.  "Behold  the  snake 
of  Vishnu,"  he  said,  "that  killed  the  cobra!" 
And  bending  over  the  goal  of  that  mighty 
spring,  he  saw  a  large  bloodstone  pierced  for 
an  amulet.  On  it  was  cut  the  hideous  image 


236  THUG  AND  TIGER 

of  the  Goddess  Kali.  The  tiger's  claws  in  their 
downward  sweep  had  torn  it  from  their  victim's 
chest. 

"Phansigar!"  he  whispered,  with  a  hushed 
voice  o'f  fear  even  in  that  jungle  solitude,  and 
with  the  tiger's  jaws  already  crunching  the  bones 
of  the  strangler  not  many  rods  away.  "Phan- 
sigar! He  was  the  servant  of  Kali,  and  his 
noose  was  ready  when  the  Lord  of  the  Jungle 
called  on  him." 

"And  why  did  he  save  me  from  the  cobra?" 
said  Frank. 

"The  young  sahib  was  pledged  for  sacrifice 
to  the  goddess.  Burrao  would  have  laid  his  life 
down  to  save  him  from  another  enemy,"  Chunda 
replied.  "Burra  Sahib  owes  the  light  of  his 
eyes  and  the  hope  of  his  heart  to  the  Great  Rajah 
with  the  Stripes." 

THE  END 


